St. AGNES IN AGONE

S. AGNESE IN AGONE

Piazza Navona/Via S. Maria dell'Anima 30a

In the eighth century a small chapel was built here, on the spot where, according to tradition, St. Agnes was exposed naked and was covered by her hair that had miraculously grown, only to be killed shortly afterwards

In 1123 the chapel was converted into a small basilica by Callistus II (1119/24) with entrance from today's Via dell'Anima

Reconstruction began in 1652 by Girolamo Rainaldi (1570/1655) and his son Carlo Rainaldi (1611/91) for Innocent X Pamphilj (1644/55)

Continued in the years 1653/57 by Francesco Borromini (1599/1667)

“While retaining the Greek cross plan designed by Rainaldi, Borromini demolished the previously built part of the façade and built it on a concave plant pushing it back towards the square. Two towers resting on the two side wings indicate the desire to enhance the light mass of the dome set on a high drum. Since then the type of the dome, the prototype of which dates back to that Michelangelo will see a progressive reduction of mass and a tendency to be thinner and slighter if taller” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

“The viewer feels drawn into the cavity of the façade above which looms the concave mass of the drum. Nobody can overlook the fact that Borromini, while employing the traditional grammar of motives, repeated here the spatial inversion of the façade of S. Ivo” (Rudolf Wittkower)

“In architecture Baroque religious art curved forms, concave and convex, appear more and more often to make communicable feelings and actions such as the bodily presence, the attraction, the embrace” (Paolo Portoghesi)

It was completed in the years 1657/72 by Carlo Rainaldi with advice, especially for the interior, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) for Donna Olimpia Maidalchini Pamphilj after the death of her husband, the pope's nephew Camillo Pamphilj

It was owned by the Doria Pamphilj family until 1992 when it was granted to the Vicariate of Rome

BELL TOWERS

Antonio Del Grande (about 1625/79) and Giovanni Maria Baratta (known from 1644/d. after 1679) from a design by Francesco Borromini

DOME

“Glory of Paradise” 1670/89 by Ciro Ferri (1634/89) for G.B. Pamphilj

Despite the 19 years which he had had to paint it, Ciro Ferri was unable to complete the work and it was finished after his death by his pupil Sebastiano Corbellini

PENDENTIVES

Magnificent “Cardinal Virtues” 1668/71 first frescoes by G.B. Gaulli aka Baciccio (1639/1709):

From the right

“Temperance, with the symbol of the muzzle held by the little angel on the top right, crowns Chastity while trampling the seductive figure of Lust with the wings of the partridge in her hand. In front of them Anteros defeats Eros and a unicorn in the background alludes to Temperance”

“Justice with sword and scales crowned by two angels and kissed by Peace holds an olive branch. Crushes under her foot the monstrous War with serpent's tail and watches the boards supported by Law. In the background Truth with the sun in hand”

“Prudence with two faces looks in the mirror to both past and future, while Providence equipped with rudder and crowned with wheat triumphs over Fortuna lying blindfolded and beautifully half-naked”

“Fortitude triumphant over a pagan statue and a brazier toppled turns to the angel with the cross pointed by the Charity”

Baciccio obtained the commission of the frescoes from the Pamphilj family thanks to Gian Lorenzo Bernini. When they were shown for the first time they were accused of “lust” for the sensuality and the attitude of some of the virtues

ABOVE THE DOORS

Between pairs of pilasters there are “Eight marble bas-reliefs with angels bearing the attributes of saints venerated in the church” 1658/59 by Ercole Ferrata (1610/86) and Domenico Guidi (1625/1701)

RELIEFS AND STATUES ON THE SEVEN ALTARS:

In the apses of the altars stuccos with “Angels and putti with attributes of the saints depicted in the marble reliefs below” by Alessandro Algardi (1598/1654) completed after his death by his pupils Domenico Guidi and Ercole Ferrata from designs by Ciro Ferri

Interestingly, the saints represented in the altars were all chosen from among the youngest martyrs of the Christian church

From the right

“Death of S. Alexius of Rome” in front of Innocent I (401/417) after being recognized by the parents 1660/63 by Giovanni Francesco Rossi (known 1640/77)

Statue of “St. Agnes” 1660 by Ercole Ferrata

Represents the moment when St. Agnes remained miraculously unharmed by the flames

The chapel is lined with ancient green Thessalian marble, which overlaps the ancient yellow marble pilasters with capitals of marble from Carrara. The false perspective is also made with extraordinary marbles such as coral breccia or bardiglio

“It reminds for certain aspects the S. Susanna by Duquesnoy, as also here the dress is relatively smooth and supports the structure of the body, while the head is derived as much from Duquesnoy as from classic Niobids. But no artist who worked in 1660 in the orbit Bernini could return to the classical purity of Duquesnoy in 1630. Following the example of the statues of saints by Bernini, Ferrata represented a transitory moment, we are witnessing a dramatic moment: the power of her prayers makes her immune from the holy fire. It creates a formal and emotional restlessness, in stark contrast with the purist trends of the thirties” (Rudolf Wittkower)

Stuccos with “Musical Angels” 1662/64 by Paolo Landini

In the side walls two pairs of “Alabaster oval medallions with faces of saints and popes” not precisely identified

“Martyrdom of St. Emerentiana” 1668/1709 by Ercole Ferrata who made the lower part. It was finished after his death in 1709 by Leonardo Retti (active 1670/1709)

Emerentiana was the foster sister of St. Agnes and she ended up being stoned to death during the funeral of her sister

“The clear and simple tripartite arrangement seems the result of a dogmatic application of Algardi's principles. While the type of the saint also shows here a careful study of the S. Susanna by Duquesnoy, and while some characters are clearly inspired by the relief of Attila, Ferrata returns for the figures of the attackers and of the mother and child to the most classic of Baroque painters, Domenichino. The sculptural principles applied by Retti in the upper half of the survey are in contrast with those of the lower half” (Rudolf Wittkower)

MAIN ALTAR

1720/21 from a design by Carlo Rainaldi executed by Francesco Moderati (about 1680/after 1724) with “Four columns of ancient green marble” maybe from the destroyed Arch of Marcus Aurelius on Via del Corso

“Three putti” by G.B. Maini (1690/1752) holding a cartouche with the phrase Among born of women there is none greater than John for G.B. Pamphilj (Innocent X) who had wanted the main altar to be dedicated to the saint who bore his name

“Angels” in 1856 stucco on the pediment by Antonio Della Bitta (1807/about 1879)

Altar “The two holy families” 1677/83 masterpiece by Domenico Guidi (1625/1701)

Continuing from the high altar towards left:

“Martyrdom of St. Cecilia” visited by Urbano (222/230) 1662/66 by Ercole Antonio Raggi (1624/86)

The relief was originally commissioned in 1660 to Giuseppe Peroni (about 1626/63), a pupil of Algardi who died leaving the life-size model that was taken up by Raggi

“The influence of Algardi is to be located in the middle division and in the differentiation between the calm faith of the pope and the excited crowd on the right. The individual style of Raggi is evident in the extremely elongated proportions of the figures, the slender build, the elegant movements as well as in the fall of drapery, which reveal a restless and nervous temperament. Contrary to Ferrata, Raggi refused the lessons learned by Domenichino. Compared to the terse composition of the relief of St. Emerentiana, the figures in the work of Raggi appear crowded in complicated groups almost confused. It goes to show his indifference for the classical dogma of clarity expressed with a minimum number of figures. On the other hand, the magnificent angel with a palm, absolutely Bernini-like shows the sweetness and tenderness of feelings, characteristic of the art of Raggi” (Rudolf Wittkower)

Statue of “St. Sebastian” 1717/19 by Pietro Paolo Campi (known 1702/40), a student of Pierre Legros

“St. Eustace among the beasts” 1666/69 by Melchiorre Caffà (1636/67)

The poor young Maltese sculptor died shortly after the start of the work which was finished by Ercole Ferrata with Giovanni Francesco Rossi in a rather academic way, a far cry from the plastic feeling of the brilliant Caffà

The model in terracotta of this relief is in Palazzo Venezia

“Caffà can be considered the most important personality of the generation after Bernini, but he died too young to achieve a leading position and to exert a role in the development of Italian sculpture. (...) His teacher, Ercole Ferrata, had introduced him to the style of Algardi, but far more decisive for him was the impression created by the works of Bernini: that character in them of final achievement was certainly of great importance for the process of maturation of the younger artist. Once convinced of the validity of the style now developed, he was bent on perfect it to virtuosity, soften it, refine it in aesthetic terms. (...) Since this, the oldest known of his works, Caffà goes beyond Ferrata, adopting the illusionistic 'bottom to top' typical of Bernini's reliefs. In the apparent recklessness of the model, in which constantly the level of projection changes, and in the dissolution of the constituent links, there is in embryo a new concept - which is late Baroque - of the relief” (Rudolf Preimesberger - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

RIGHT OF THE ALTAR OF S. SEBASTIAN - CHAPEL OF S. FILIPPO NERI

Restored 1859 by Andrea Busiri Vici (1818/1911) with decorations by Annibale Angelini (1812/84)

In a silver reliquary there is the alleged skull of S. Agnes

Vault “Virgin Mary receives S. Filippo Neri in heaven (known as St. Philip Neri in English)” about 1663 by Francesco Allegrini (1587/1663)

From the chapel it is possible to enter the crypt of the monumental tombs of Pamphilj arranged in 1864 by Andrea Busiri Vici

LEFT OF THE ALTAR OF S. SEBASTIAN - CHAPEL OF St. FRANCES OF ROME

Here, according to tradition, the saint was baptized

Fresco “St. Frances of Rome assumed into heaven” by Francesco Cozza (1605/82)

Altar and baptismal font of St. Agnes consisting of a block of stone from the old oratory. At the sides “Angels” by Andrea Bolgi (1606/56)

Marble relief on the altar “St Frances of Rome shows the rule book flanked by an angel” by an artist of Algardi's school, maybe Domenico Guidi

ABOVE THE ENTRANCE

“Monument of Innocent X” Pamphilj with “Justice” and “Religion” 1730 by G.B. Maini (1690/1752)

The Pope's body was buried in the crypt of the Pamphilj to the right of the altar. For days after his death the corpse had been in a warehouse for tools of the Basilica of St. Peter at the mercy of mice to the neglect of the family

Above beautiful “Choir” by Carlo Rainaldi 1659/62 with “Angels caryatids” by Domenico Poli and Isidoro Baratta

Organ of 1914 that replaced the seventeenth century one of which some elements were reused

SACRISTY

1658/66, designed by Francesco Borromini

Fresco on the vault “Glory of St. Agnes” 1664 Paolo Gismondi aka Paolo Perugino (1612/85)

Frescoes in the presbytery “Stories of Mary” 1660 by Francesco Allegrini (1587/1663)

Angels and holy water fountain 1666 by Andrea Baratta (about 1595/1666)

CRYPT

Three rooms derived from the Circus of Domitian (81/96) with fornix (from fornix derives the verb fornicate) which is traditionally considered the brothel of the story of St. Agnes

The three rooms were rearranged in 1885 by Andrea Busiri Vici (1818/1911)

It is believed to be the place where, according to tradition, Saint Agnes was killed with a sword thrust in her throat immediately after she revived the young man who had fallen dead during an attempted rape against her

“Roman floor mosaic”

On the walls

“Traces of medieval frescoes” maybe of the thirteenth century, covered in 1893 by Eugenio Cisterna (1862/1933), who imitated the style of early Christian art deemed appropriate in those spaces, and perhaps inspired by the earlier thirteenth-century frescoes

Above the altar

Relief “Miracle of the hair of St. Agnes” designed in 1653 by Alessandro Algardi (1598/1654) and executed in 1663 by Giovanni Buratti

St. AGATHA OF THE GOTHS

S. AGATA DEI GOTI

Via Mazzarino 16

It is mentioned in the sources for the first time in 467 when the Goth general Flavius Ricimer wanted it to be decorated with a mosaic in the apse which eventually collapsed in 1589

Maybe it was originally dedicated to the Savior

It was the only church in Rome dedicated to the worship for the Aryan Gothic community

In 592 it was consecrated to the Catholic rite and to St. Agatha of Sicily by Gregory I the Great (590/604)

According to the Acta Sanctorum (the main collection of literary sources relating to the saints of the Catholic Church, written in the seventeenth century), in fact, St. Agatha, a native of Catania, had freed the city from the Goths with a miracle

It was restored by S. Leo III (795/816) and S. Leo IV (847/855), who entrusted it to the Benedictines

It was restructured in the years 1633/35 by Domenico Castelli (1582/1657) for Cardinals Antonio and Francesco Barberini

It is also known as S. AGATA IN CAPITE SUBURRAE named after the nearby Suburra neighborhood or S. AGATA DE CABALLO from the ancient name of the Quirinal Hill

It hosted the Irish College for 90 years from 1836 to 1926 in the adjacent building in Via Mazzarino. It is currently officiated by Irish monks

FAÇADE

1729 Francesco Ferrari (active in Rome 1721/44)

ATRIUM

Inscriptions and sculptures from ancient and medieval including in the left arm “Head of a woman on column” maybe of the fifth century AD

At the center “Well” of the sixth century with the carved insignia of Cardinal Nicolò Ridolfi, nephew of Clement VII Medici (1523/34)

INTERIOR

It still has the plan of the fifth century with Goths particularities as the two arched windows in the apse now walled in, the dosserets above the capitals and the use of the Byzantine foot as unit of measurement

During the renovation of the seventeenth-century the arches were reduced from seven to five

COUNTER FAÇADE

Organ 1703 for Cardinal Carlo Bichi who was buried in the left aisle

Canvas “Fortress” on the left and “Humility” on the right by Paolo Gismondi aka Paolo Perugino (1612/85), a student from Perugia of Pietro da Cortona

CEILING

1633, coffered with golden bees, symbols of the Barberini family

ABOVE THE ARCHES

“Eight medallions of Irish saints” 1863 reminiscent of the period between 1836 and 1926 during which the church was run by Irish monks

UPPER SIDE WALLS

Six paintings with “History of St. Agatha” about 1633/36, recently restored, by Paolo Gismondi aka Paolo Perugino:

On the right

“Martyrdom of St. Agatha at the order of Quintianus”, “St. Agatha resisting the temptations of Aphrodisias and her daughters” and “St. Agatha rejects offers of jewelry from Aphrodisias and her daughters”

On the left

“St. Peter appears to St. Agatha locked up in jail”, “St. Agatha at the stake” and “St. Agatha on her deathbed surrounded by weeping women and angels”

ON THE RIGHT WALL

“Tomb of Cardinal Giovanni Marco y Catalan” d. 1841

END OF THE RIGHT AISLE - CHAPEL OF St. AGATHA

Statue in gilded wood “St. Agatha” 1681 by an anonymous seventeenth-century monk

Gilded wood reliquary with the relics of Greek martyrs from the Catacomb of S. Callisto transported here at the will of Leo IX (1049/54)

MAIN ALTAR

From the window of the altar it is possible to see the urn with other relics of Greek martyrs

“Cosmatesque Ciborium” XII/XIII century, reassembled in the years 1928/32 by Gustavo Giovannoni (1873/1947) who put philologically together the scattered pieces found in the church and in the garden

In the years 1931/33 the PRESBYTERY was painted simulating marble

APSE

“Glory of St. Agatha” about 1633/36 Paolo Gismondi aka Paolo Perugino who also painted the two allegorical figures in the spandrels in front of the arc: on the left “Faith” and on the right “Hope”

“These works gave some reputation to Gismondi, despite the pictorial language full of hesitations and quotes from Michelangelo to the Cavalier d'Arpino, although here he proves he is still a novice painter, and uncertain in terms of form, revealing, in his immature Cortona style, obvious limitations in the definition of the faces, in the drafts of color and in the construction of space” (Giovanna Mencarelli - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

END OF THE LEFT AISLE - CHAPEL OF THE VIRGIN MARY

1681 “St. Gaspar Bertoni” 1991 Aronne Del Vecchio (1910/98)

Frontal with three reliefs: “Adoration of the Shepherds” and small round reliefs “Annunciation” and “Assumption” in the first half of 1600s by an artist influenced by François Duquesnoy (1597/1643)

ON THE LEFT WALL

“Tomb in stucco of Cardinal Carlo Bichi” first half of 1700s by the Roman Carlo De Dominicis (1696/1758), his first public commission. The Cardinal had wanted and paid for the splendid organ in the counter-façade

“The free treatment of this monument, executed in stucco, does not suggest a sympathy of the artist for the classical idiom of the Academy of St. Luke. Indeed, in the years between 1725 and 1733 De Dominicis collaborated with the more anti-classical architect of his generation: Filippo Raguzzini, papal architect under Benedict XIII and leading exponent of the Rococo in Rome” (John Varriano - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)

St. AGATHA OF SICILY

S. AGATA

Largo S. Giovanni de Matha 91

The first mention of the church in any of the sources dates back to 1121

Rebuilt in 1671 but only completed in the years 1710/11 by Giacomo Onorato Recalcati (?/1723)

Restored in 1821

VAULT

“Assumption” and apse by Girolamo Troppa (1630/after 1710)

3^rd CHAPEL ON THE RIGHT

“Our Lady of the Rosary” by Biagio Puccini (1673/1721) from Lucca, student, as well as Troppa, of G.B. Gaulli aka Baciccio

MAIN ALTAR

“Martyrdom of St. Agatha” by Biagio Puccini

Very dramatic and explicit painting with the representation of the torture that, according to tradition, the poor saint from Catania in Sicily suffered in the third century AD: her breasts were eradicated with pliers

3^rd CHAPEL ON THE LEFT

“Crucifixion” by Biagio Puccini

At the altar there is the venerated statue of “Our Lady of Carmel” better known as Madonna de Noantri (Our Virgin Mary) carved in cedar wood and carried in procession during the summer festival in the Trastevere district known as FESTA DE NOANTRI (Festival of Ourselves)

It was a member of the Order of Carmelites, the Englishman St. Simon Stock, who created the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, after the mountain range in Palestine where monks lived following the example of the prophet Elijah, and where tradition has it that there the Virgin Mary appeared to Stock on July 16, 1251

It is said that the statue was found by some fishermen after a storm near the mouth of the Tiber. The “Madonna Fiumarola” (Virgin Mary of the River) was given to the Carmelites (hence the name Lady of Mount Carmel) in Trastevere

Having become the protector of Trastevere, the statue was placed in a chapel, built in 1600 by Cardinal Scipione Caffarelli Borghese (1577/1633), specifically to shelter it

The chapel was demolished in 1890 for the construction of the Viale del Re (Avenue of the King), today's Viale Trastevere and, after a few decades in S. Giovanni Battista dei Genovesi, the statue was placed in the church of St. Agatha of Sicily

From here, every year on the first Saturday after July 16th (day of the apparition of Our Lady on Mount Carmel) during the Festa de Noantri, the statue, covered with jewels and precious clothes, is carried in procession through the streets of the district to the Church of S. Crisogono where it remains for eight days before returning to the church of St. Agatha of Sicily

Originally some bold young men, also known as cicoriari for being collectors of chicory in Campoli, near Frosinone, in two processions used to carry on their shoulders the heavy structure with the statue. Later it was established a special brotherhood, the so called carriers

Today in addition to religious events there are also shows, cultural events and walks among stalls selling sweets, toys and crafts

MUNICIPAL ROSE GARDEN

ROSETO COMUNALE

Via di Valle Murcia

Area arranged in 1950 by Antonio Muñoz (1884/1960)

Since 1645 here was the old Jewish cemetery in Rome that was moved in 1935 to the Verano Cemetery

The first Municipal Rose Garden was created in 1932 on the Oppian Hill at the behest of the Countess Mary Gailey Senni, an American lady who had married an Italian count

There are about 1,100 different species of roses from all over the world, from China and Mongolia, with curiosity as the rose petals green, the rose that changes color or the stinking rose

The paths dividing the areas of the collections form the design of the menorah, the Jewish candelabrum

ROME WAR CEMETERY

ROME WAR CEMETERY

Via Nicola Zabaglia 50

It is located between Monte Testaccio to the north and the Aurelian Walls to the south

The area has been given for free by the Italian government to the Commonwealth after the Second World War for the burial of 426 mainly British soldiers (350) but also of other Commonwealth countries such as Canada (22), South Africa (28), Australia (4), New Zealand (10) and India (2)

Four burials are unidentified soldiers

Throughout World War II, about 42,000 Commonwealth soldiers died in Italy, so the soldiers buried in this cemetery are only about 1% of all the dead

The maintenance of the cemetery is entrusted to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission established in 1917

The cemetery retains a fragment of Hadrian's Wall brought here by the will of the citizens of the city of Carlisle in England to commemorate the Cumbrian soldiers who died in the Italian campaign

RECTORATE AND FACULTY OF LAW OF THE UNIVERSITY ROMA TRE

RETTORATO E FACOLTÀ DI GIURISPRUDENZA DELL'UNIVERSITÀ ROMA TRE

Via Ostiense 161/163

1998/2000 Pino Pasquali e Alfredo Passeri on an area formerly occupied by a disused glass bottles factory in the eighties

“The university building reflects, in its form, the deep interest accrued by Pino Pasquali for the Italian architecture of the thirties, (from the weighted symmetry of the University of Rome to the futuristic accents of Guidonia, the air city), the fixed metaphysics of the Piazze d'Italia (squares of Italy) and the Mediterranean environment” (Giorgio Muratore)

“The layout of the complex, when read in plant appears as a counterpoint of abstract shapes, including squares, rectangles and circles. Quite different is the visual path around the area, also for the location of the complex at a higher level than Via Ostiense. So that the building in the foreground, with a repeated shed roof (an immediate appeal to the memory of the preexisting industrial buildings), it is almost as framed by the long horizontal structure behind, interrupted by vertical 'tower' elements in opaque glass” (Enrica Torelli Landini)

The UNIVERSITÀ ROMA TRE (University Rome Three) had 34,366 students enrolled in the academic year 2010/11

It is the third University of Rome in chronological order of foundation after La Sapienza and Tor Vergata, but the second for number of students

In 2007 the Faculty of Law of Rome Tre was ranked second by Censis among all Italian public universities and the Faculty of Architecture was ranked third

HOTEL PRATI ROMA

RESIDENCE PRATI ROMA

Via Giovanni Nicotera 26 - Prati

1938/43 Luigi Piccinato (1899/1984) with the collaboration of the engineer Giulio Landi

Elegant twin buildings built for a hotel of the residence type consisting of apartments equipped with kitchens

One of the apartments was the home of the great Italian movie director Federico Fellini and before his marriage with Giulietta Masina

Luigi Piccinato also designed the Naples train station and the Stadio Adriatico in Pescara

“This pair of buildings is one of the best known examples of this period of Roman architecture. (...) A very special architectural scheme, designed with a central element of distribution that includes an elevator, an outdoor staircase and a series of air links between the two buildings” (Piero Ostilio Rossi)

“The considerable evidence of architecture, projects and achievements, mostly produced from the thirties to the period of post-war reconstruction, are often obscured by the decisive role Piccinato played in the Italian and international events regarding the layouts of cities. For Piccinato, who was among the founders of the Association for Organic Architecture, the city is a 'living organism', like a biological entity, and as such, it can only be understood beginning from the study of its eventful history, and then proceed with the establishment of a methodology for the interpretation of the urban and social dynamics. Vitality and mutability of urban amenities are not going to be stiffened by systems of rules. It is necessary to think about sensitive planning tools, able to interpret the instances of cultural, social and economic conditions that are the basis of urban transformation. So it took shape the idea of ​​'open plan' that Piccinato exposed in the course of the works for the plan of Rome” (Roberto Perris - Enciclopedia Treccani, V Appendix, 1994

NEIGHBORHOOD UNRRA-CASAS St. BASIL

QUARTIERE UNRRA-CASAS S. BASILIO

Via Tiburtina km 15/Via Muccia, Via Chiaravalle, Via Recanati

1955 Mario Fiorentino (1918/82)

Area of 8.5 hectares (21 acres) comprising of 180 apartments, each with a vegetable garden of about 150/200 m² (1,600/2,100 square feet), given to about 900 war refugees

The type of housing show an interesting Scandinavian influence

“The building types include row houses, simplex and duplex, which extend each one in an open space of their own. The reference to rural architecture is noticeable in both the construction technique, the adoption of a continuous masonry of the traditional type, and in the morphological details” (Giorgio Muratore)

It was built with funds from the United Nations intended to help the populations in distress for the war

UNRRA (United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration) was an organization of the United Nations, based in Washington, established in 1943 to assist economically and civilly countries left badly damaged by World War II. It was discontinued in 1947. The funds came from countries that had not experienced devastation during the war

The new neighborhood replaced a rickety township built in the thirties of the twentieth century to accommodate families evicted from the city center during the fascist demolitions

It had been built with the so-called carpelite, a mixture of wood and lime

The houses of the village were so pretty much just sturdy huts and were known as Case Sette Lire (seven liras houses) or Casette Peter (Peter's small houses) from the name of the designer

“It may seem strange a decision to build in a city like Rome a neighborhood of such limited size (180 homes), but given the paucity of funding, it was decided anyway to build a small project that would somehow have an exemplary character. (...) Even today, in the vast outskirts of Rome, the 'Village St. Basil' succeeds in maintaining its particular character, a bit unreal, of a suburban residential area that the city's development hasn't virtually affected” (Piero Ostilio Rossi)

Church of St. Basil the Great

1963 by Augusto Baccin (1914/98)

In the building of the parish there is an embedded ancient medieval tower

TUSCOLANO DISTRICT (I, II & III) QUADRARO

QUARTIERE TUSCOLANO (I, II& III) QUADRARO

Via Tuscolana/Via Lucio Sestio/Via del Quadraro/Via Cartagine

It is unknown where the name QUADRARO originated from. It seems to be connected to one Guadralis who received in 1164 land in the area under license by the monks of St. Alexis

The neighborhood was developed in the early twentieth century with two or three floors houses and an irregular housing

With the development of the nearby Cinecittà the number of the inhabitants increased, many of whom worked in the film studios 

During World War II the neighborhood used to be described hornet's nest by the occupying Nazis, because it was populated by vocal opponents of Nazism and Fascism 

On April 17, 1944 following the RASTRELLAMENTO DEL QUADRARO (Quadraro raid), or Operation Whale, directed by Major Kappler, more than 700 male residents of the neighborhood were taken from their homes and deported to Germany. Only about half came back home in very serious psycho-physical condition 

The Quadraro neighborhood was awarded the gold medal for civil merit

It was built on an area of 35.5 hectares (88 acres) with 3,150 homes built since 1950 by INA Case for about 20,000 residents of low income

“The neighborhood has a large variety of types and at the same time, a remarkable unity, great homogeneity of materials and architectural elements. (...) The star-shaped towers of De Renzi propose the scheme already used in the Valco S. Paolo complex, but the architect in this case gives to his work an even more complex articulation” (Giorgio Muratore)

Recently various walls in the area of the neighborhood known as QUADRARETTO were painted with murals executed by well-known street artists like Ron English (1959), who painted in 2013 a beautiful “Baby Hulk” 

“The oil paintings of Ron English stand out in this pop surrealism genre for the impeccable technique that makes it seem like his works were digitally manipulated. The issues that went hand in hand with the economic development of America, soaked with globalization and environmental issues, militarism and loss of control have been entrusted to the pleasantness of cartoon-characters icons such as Mickey Mouse or the puppet Mac Donald, small clown children or Baby Hulk. No canister spray, but only brushes and shock colors to release the pop soul of a mutant universe” (Eleanora Santonocito - www.artsblog.it)

TUSCOLANO I

Built in 1950/56 by a throng of architects:

C. Dall'Olio, L. Favini, M. Pallottini, M. Paniconi, G. Pediconi, F. Barbaliscia, P. Barucci, M. Castellazzi, B. Di Gaddo, P. Morresi, M. Serangeli, P. Marconi, L. Ciarlini, L. Orestano, G. Nicolosi, R. Marino, F. Dinelli, O. Fasolo, G. Fioroni, A. Gatti, R. Landriscina, A. Mainardi, F. Minissi, G. Minnucci, M. Tavanti, R. Venturi

TUSCOLANO II

Built in 1950/56 by Mario De Renzi (1897/1967) and Saverio Muratori (1910/73)

Building plans: Lucio Cambellotti, Francesco Fariello (1910), Saverio Muratori, Giuseppe Perugini (1914), Giulio Roisecco, Dante Tassotti and Luigi Vagnetti (1915/80)

HOUSE IN LINE in Largo Spartaco and SQUARE TOWERS in Via Cartagine by Mario De Renzi and Saverio Muratori

HOUSE IN LINE TOWERS in Via Sagunto and STAR TOWERS in Via del Quadraro by Mario De Renzi

“The neighborhood still remains unfinished urbanistically for failure to complete the planned public facilities, the social center, cinema theater and the church (which has been built only as a crypt) so that the main square is an unresolved space” (Patrizia Capolino)

TUSCOLANO III

Built in 1950/54 by Adalberto Libera (1903/63) in the area between Via Selinunte and the railway with innovative and original HORIZONTAL HOME UNITS for about 200 large families

“It seems that Libera took inspiration from a trip to Morocco. Impressed by the Kasbah, he was struck by how they would mix private houses with social areas, including shops, meeting places, parks. And he wanted to revive this intuition in the suburban Rome of his time not yet clogged by people, even – in its own way - 'desert.' The result was the beginning of a neighborhood of apartments small and inexensive but not poor. Decent, in fact. Houses were no barracks, public areas were airy and had the same importance of the apartments. The emergence of finding accommodations to thousands of people was left behind for another urgent priority: the quality of life that was important to offer to those people. There is something revolutionary in the project for the INA Case Tuscolana. With the same spirit, later together with Libera, other architects worked and left a mark that goes beyond the construction technique and the art of design.It is a 'human' sign that speaks of community, solidarity and happiness as universal rights” (Ilaria Beltramme - www.gaiaxroma.it)

“Each house has total privacy because, with the exception of the kitchen and the dining room, the rooms overlook exclusively on the inner patio; the patio can thus be used as a real 'outdoor room'; the streets (which are also equipped as areas to hang out) and the central green space create an effective transition from the private to the public sector (...). The architectural solutions are very simple and can reach significant quality in the house with gallery with a refined expressive use of technical-structural solutions” (Piero Ostilio Rossi)

TESTACCIO DISTRICT

QUARTIERE TESTACCIO

Via Marmorata/Lungotevere Testaccio/Viale del Campo Boario

The district was built in the fifty years 1870/1920, although most of the buildings for the residents were built after 1905

The area had been assigned for centuries to public use and it was known as PRATI DEL POPOLO ROMANO (meadows of the Roman people) destination for picnics especially on Easter Monday or Sundays in October, the so-called Ottobrate

The district was listed in the city plan of 1873 by Pietro Camporese the Younger (1792/1873) and took the Rione (ward) attribute in 1921

About 8,400 people live here

1908/10 CASE ICP (public housing homes) between Via Bodoni, Via Manuzio and Lungotevere Testaccio by Giulio Magni (1859/1930), grandson of Giuseppe Valadier

“His four-story residential blocks are reinvented in proportions and relative positions in the blocks and compared to the internal voids (courtyards), no more extra spaces of the constructions, but spaces for qualified social life and playgrounds for children and teenagers. The backing up of the peripheral blocks and their adjustments in size re-establish a new visual relationship between these courtyards and the streets outside (visual continuity) and a new system of social relations. It was also special the attention to detail and surfaces so that they get a visual recognition and confer uniqueness whole blocks” (Luigi Secondo Gioggi)

1914/17 THREE BLOCKS OF CASE ICP (public housing homes) between Piazza S. Maria Liberatrice and Lungotevere Testaccio by Quadrio Pirani (1878/1970) who designed them with Giovanni Bellucci

“The attention to detail, the particular decorations and the use of particular materials (brick and Roman plaster with travertine inserts) allow us to recognize and appreciate the architecture of Pirani. Justly Pirani can be considered now as a predecessor of Mario Ridolfi for the appreciation of a building as a product of artistic craftsmanship and as for his effective use of materials” (Luigi Secondo Gioggi)

1930 BLOCK ON PIAZZA S. MARIA LIBERATRICE by Camillo Palmerini (1893/1967) near the three blocks by Quadrio Pirani

“He tries to overcome linguistically the recurring motifs of 'Roman Barocchetto' (small Baroque) or the mediaeval references common to many designers by simplifying the elements of the façades in decorative function. Studied in Testaccio, in particular, intensive block to block with closed courtyard without setbacks where the interiors are enhanced as part common to green homes and services for the same” (Luigi Secondo Gioggi)

1918/19 CATTANEO PROFESSIONAL SCHOOL on Lungotevere Testaccio by the engineer Carlo Mazza

It used to train mechanics and electricians for the automotive industry. It was a model structure in Italy for the production of subsequent vocational schools for industry and crafts

1926 NOVEMBER 4th ELEMENTARY SCHOOL in Via Alessandro Volta 43 by Augusto Antonelli (1880/1960)

“Formally, the structure has a certain majesty and by the author reveals the knowledge of the great works of architecture and eclectic public of the time” (Luigi Secondo Gioggi)

1921 RESIDENTIAL COMPLEX IN PIAZZA DELL'EMPORIO, Via Ferdinando di Savoia and Via Andrea Cecchi by Carlo Broggi (1881/1968)

“It represented one of the first examples, later widely followed in the buildings of Rome, of an almost public house, created for a variety of cooperative apartments that would have anyway a character of decent architecture, referring to the examples of seventeenth-century Roman Baroque, and that would come out of the monotonous flat uniformity which had almost completely characterized until then, this kind of developments, and that had created, for example, the disaster architecture of the new district of Prati. In this building I was especially interested in the study of the upper parts and of the roof because I believe that, in a city such as Rome, with steep gradients and visual overlapping, it is a huge mistake to completely forget about this kind of the architecture that had so much influence on the effect of the whole landscape of the city” (Carlo Broggi)

1929/31 TWO BUILDINGS IN VIA MARMORATA 139 and 149 by the great Innocenzo Sabbatini (1891/1984)

The project involved two other buildings that should have faced Piazza S. Maria Liberatrice but that were never executed

“It aims to reinterpret the city and residential apartment blocks, to rediscover an image of Rome in the new constructions, congruent with the past and a modern interpretation nevertheless. Sabbatini's houses are unmistakably 'Roman' because derived from the idea of global architecture of the city, because the knowledge of the past is taken over by the imagination of the architectural present without denying origins, culture, language” (Luigi Secondo Gioggi)