rome
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For more than two centuries, Antico Café Greco has been part of Rome’s cultural landscape. Writers and artists, movie stars, princesses and even cowboys have made the pilgrimage to Via Condotti at the foot of the Spanish Steps to soak up the historic atmosphere of Italy’s capital’s oldest coffee house.
Last month, everything changed. A cafe popular with Romans and tourists has closed. Portraits of former customers, including Wild West sniper Buffalo Bill, were removed from the walls. The plush red velvet chairs, seating booths and bar stools have been removed. Gold-plated porcelain tableware was taken away.
The venue, once popular with the Roman bourgeoisie of the 19th century, has become an empty shell, just as it flourished with La Dolce Vita in the 1960s.
Antico Café Greco’s sudden disappearance was the result of a long-running rent dispute between its owners, Carlo Pellegrini and Flavia Iozzi, and its landlord, the Israeli Hospital of Rome. The hospital is a private institution that also provides medical care to patients through the Italian National Health Service.
The scheme began in September 2017, when the 80-year lease expired and Israelite Hospital increased the monthly rent from €17,000 to €120,000. This was a significant price increase from approximately $20,000 to $140,000. The company said the move is in line with other properties on the street, which is home to stores such as Gucci, Versace and Dior.
In recent years, soaring commercial rents have forced many small and medium-sized businesses out of central Rome, especially after the coronavirus pandemic, when lockdowns accelerated the rise of home delivery and online shopping.
When Antico’s lease expired eight years ago, Pellegrini said: “To keep the cafe open, we are willing to pay more rent, but not six times what we are paying now.” “It makes me very angry, but we will fight this.”
The battle was dealt a decisive blow in 2024, when the hospital finally won a legal battle to evict the cafe’s occupants. The aim is to reopen with new tenants.
Until last month, the walls were decorated with portraits of the cafe’s past, including the day Buffalo Bill drank his morning coffee there with his fellow cowboys in 1890. In the 19th century it was a favorite hangout of Charles Dickens, Henry James and John Keats. Later, Orson Welles, Audrey Hepburn and Sophia Loren also spent time here.
Giacomo Casanova, the notorious 18th century seducer, also mentioned “secret meetings” in cafes in his memoirs. The sofa in the back, where it is said to have been made, has since become popular among enthusiasts for centuries.
Despite the above-average prices, customers always seemed to think it was worth paying extra to drink a cappuccino or hot chocolate from the same cup as Pablo Picasso and Princess Diana.
Pellegrini and Iozzi were formally expelled in October after losing five appeals and a retrial.
The cafe was closed down with the help of military police. The locks were changed and the heavy wooden door closed for the last time. Lawyers for the hospital removed a temporary “Closed for Vacation” sign that had been taped to the door since September.
Although the court has ruled that the hospital must preserve the historic integrity of the building, retiring employees told CNN through their lawyers that they removed the cafe’s art in September, including portraits, sculptures and memorabilia said to be worth about 8 million euros, fearing damage from leaking pipes.
Antonio Maria Leozappa, special commissioner for the Israel Hospital, told CNN that the removed works and furniture have since been confiscated by authorities and are now being protected by Italy’s Ministry of Culture until a new home can be found. He said the hospital had not asked Mr. Pellegrini to repay the 100,000-euro annual rent shortfall since the legal battle began eight years ago.
“Israelite Hospital is a public health asset, and the proceeds from the property have been and will continue to be used by Israelite Hospital, an affiliate of the National Health System, for the sole purpose of improving health care,” the hospital said in a statement in 2023 after winning one of its many legal battles. The company said the rent increase was an attempt to improve health care “for the benefit of all citizens.”
Leozappa said the cafe will reopen once construction on the building is complete. “This is a historic cafe, one of the first in Italy, and its history goes back to the late 18th century,” he told CNN.
Under the new ownership, Antico Café Greco will “continue to enjoy its long history, respecting tradition and established regulations, and the historic character of the place will be preserved,” he added. “Cities, Romans and tourists will continue to enjoy coffee at Antico Café Greco for centuries to come.”
Pellegrini has no plans to give up the fight just yet. “We cannot end the matter like this,” lawyer Alessandro Cicciarelli said as the locks were exchanged.
Whatever happens next, this once vast space is now an eyesore on one of the city center’s most famous streets. As a result of soaring commercial and housing prices, empty storefronts are popping up, and some have been vacant for years.
Antico Café Greco has signs on its wooden outdoor terrace to indicate that empty planters are not trash cans. ” A curious tourist looks through the window into an empty space. The lights are on in the store, but no one is making coffee.
“I’ve been coming here every day for almost 15 years,” Manuel Capponi, a local senior living at the top of the Spanish Steps, told CNN. “There was conflict, there was anger, and it’s a tragedy that it had to close in this way. But this cafe, and this city, has weathered even worse storms. There will be another cafe, and I’m sure the prices will reflect the higher rents.”
