Antico Caffè Greco, Rome’s oldest coffee house and one of Europe’s most historic cafés, was sealed by police on Wednesday following a protracted legal battle between its owners and managers.
The Court of Cassation upheld the termination of the lease, returning control of the 18th-century establishment to its owners, the Israelite Hospital. The ruling ends years of litigation with the café’s long-time licence holders, Flavia Iozzi and her husband, Carlo Pellegrini, who had resisted eviction since the lease expired in 2017.
Bailiffs and Carabinieri officers oversaw the handover, changing the locks on the premises located on Via dei Condotti, just steps from the Spanish Steps. The intervention marks a turning point in a saga that has drawn public attention to one of Rome’s most cherished cultural landmarks.
The police also seized around 300 historic furnishings, including paintings, memorabilia and antique furniture, valued at about €8 million. Prosecutors allege the items were removed illegally by Pellegrini, violating heritage protection laws. The Carabinieri’s cultural heritage unit recovered the artefacts from a warehouse earlier this month.
Future of Caffè Greco
The café’s future remains uncertain. Its prime location, surrounded by luxury boutiques such as Gucci, Prada and Valentino, has sparked speculation that fashion houses may be interested in the site.
Antonio Maria Leozappa, the extraordinary commissioner of the Israelite Hospital, said the owners’ “absolute priority will be to reopen Caffè Greco.” He added that efforts are already underway to restore and reopen the venue as soon as possible.
A Cultural Landmark
Founded in 1760 by Nicola della Maddalena, Caffè Greco is Italy’s fouth-oldest coffee house, after Venice’s Caffè Florian (1720), the Pedrocchi coffee house in Padua (1722) and Florence’s Caffè Gilli (1733). Over nearly three centuries, it has served as a meeting place for artists, writers and thinkers from around the world.
Its famed patrons include Goethe, Byron, Keats, Shelley, Stendhal, Hans Christian Andersen, Ibsen, Casanova, Baudelaire, Mark Twain and Orson Welles. The café also welcomed Italian icons such as Sophia Loren and Pier Paolo Pasolini.
Caffè Greco’s walls, adorned with portraits and artefacts, have long embodied the spirit of Rome’s artistic and intellectual life. Whether it reopens as a café or takes on a new form, many Romans hope that its historic character will endure.
