Pietralata (Rome)

Pietralata is the 21st quartiere of Rome, identified by the initials Q. XXI, and belongs to the Municipio IV. Its name comes from the Latin Prata Lata[2] meaning large fields, which is possibly a reference to the large amount of nature and vegetation present.

Pietralata
Quartiere of Rome
The church of San Michele Arcangelo
The church of San Michele Arcangelo
Position of the quartiere within the city
Position of the quartiere within the city
Coordinates: 41°54′55″N 12°33′20″E
Country Italy
RegionLazio
ProvinceRome
ComuneRome
Area
 • Total2.3033 sq mi (5.9655 km2)
Population
 (2016)[1]
 • Total32,748
 • Density14,217.9/sq mi (5,489.56/km2)
Time zoneUTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)

The borough of Pietralata belonged to the Suburbio Nomentano (S. II) until 1961, when it became the 21st quarter of the city.

History

Pietralata was a conspicuous estate of the Agro Romano, with an extension of about 2,150 hectares, stretching from Via Tiburtina to Via Nomentana: the estate included the Sant'Agnese valley, outside Porta Nomentana, and the Portonaccio hills, reaching the river Aniene and the Casal de' Pazzi farmstead, and also including the castle of Pietralata, built on the ruins of an ancient Roman villa. From the name of the estate derived the name of the family that owned it, whose most prominent members were Orazio di Pietralata, who lived at the beginning of the 16th century, and Giovan Battista di Pietralata, bishop of Sant'Angelo in Vado. The Pietralata family was initially succeeded by the Lante, then, after a partition, the property of the estate was transferred to the Ruberti family, to Prince Stanislaw Poniatowski and to the Mazzetti family. Thanks to the Mazzetti family, all the portions of the original estate were reunited, and in 1842 the family obtained the title of Marquis of Pietralata.

Later, the ownership was transferred to the Torlonia family and when, during the fascist period, several new suburbs (the so-called borgate) were planned in order to house the population that was moving from the center of Rome after the demolitions provided by the 1931 city plan, Pietralata became one of the 12 official borgate. Several little houses were planned, that were called "7 lire houses" because of their low price and had no bathrooms, kitchens nor running water.

On October 23, 1943, in a little valley in the countryside along Via Tiburtina, near the Ponte Mammolo cheese factory, the SS killed nine partisans of the Movimento Comunista d'Italia - Bandiera Rossa (who had previously assaulted the barracks in Forte Tiburtino to get food, weapons, ammunition and medicines) and a cyclist, who was not related to the assault. The massacre became known as the Eccidio di Pietralata (Pietralata slaughter): the victims are commemorated by a plaque in the Rebibbia prison.

This resistance episode influenced the social identity of the inhabitants of quarter that, being basically isolated from the center of the city, found in the church (particularly the Congregation of Sacramentine Sisters, which had a prominent role in schooling) and in the PCI their main references.

Starting from 1954, the old poor houses have been demolished and replaced with modern residential buildings. In the 1950s floods were quite frequent in the area, particularly because the roads had been built below the level of the Aniene. The situation improved in 1979, when the then mayor Luigi Petroselli started redevelopment works that rose the road level: the results of the works are still visible today, since some stores are below the level of the street.

Still in the 1970s, Pietralata struggles with poverty and illiteracy: there was only an elementary school, the classes had to attend lessons taking turns and many students dropped out of school. The poor situation of the quarter was depicted in several books, such as Elsa Morante's History, Pier Paolo Pasolini's Una vita violenta, Alberto Moravia's Racconti romani and Albino Bernardini's Un anno a Pietralata, which was adapted into a film, Diario di un maestro, by Vittorio De Seta.

The redevelopment of the quarter started at the end of the 1970s, with the refurbishment interventions launched by mayor Luigi Petroselli. In 1990 the station Pietralata, of the Rome Metro, was inaugurated, and later the Sandro Pertini hospital has been built. In 1998, retrieving some of the funds initially assigned to the Rome Metro, the mayor Francesco Rutelli promoted the creation of a piazza on a plot of land that was previously a landfill. The piazza was initially called Piazza Risarcimento (Compensation Square), then, after the protest of the residents (that wanted it to be dedicated to Pier Paolo Pasolini), the square was officially named Largo di Pietralata.

Geography

The territory of Pietralata includes the urban zones 5G Pietralata and 5C Tiburtino Nord, and a portion of the urban zone 5H Casal de' Pazzi.

Boundaries

Northward, the quarter border is marked by the river Aniene, that separates Pietralata from Quartiere Monte Sacro (Q. XVI) and from Quartiere Ponte Mammolo (Q. XXIX), up to Via Tiburtina.

Eastward, Pietralata borders with Zona Tor Cervara (Z. VII), whose boundary is outlined by a short stretch of Via Tiburtina, between the river Aniene and Via Palmiro Togliatti.

To the south, the quarter borders with Quartiere Collatino (Q. XXII), from which is separated by Via Tiburtina, up to Via di Portonaccio. Pietralata also shares a short border with Quartiere Tiburtino (Q. VI), marked by the portion of Via Tiburtina between Via di Portonaccio and Via Masaniello.

Westward, the quarter borders with Quartiere Nomentano (Q. V), whose boundary is marked by Via Masaniello, Piazzale della Stazione Tiburtina and Circonvallazione Nomentana, up to the river Aniene.

Odonymy

The streets of the original core of Pietralata are all named after minerals, while roads and squares in later expansions are dedicated to mineralogists, geologists and paleontologists. There is also a bunch of toponyms related to ancient Roman deities and an area where streets are chiefly named after writers and journalists. The new roads near the Roma Tiburtina railway station are named after prominent politicians. Toponyms of the quarter can be categorized as follows:

Places of interest

Civil buildings

Religious buildings

Military buildings

Schools

See also

References
  1. Roma Capitale – Roma Statistica. Population inscribed in the resident register at 31 December 2016 by toponymy subdivision.
  2. Orietta Verdi, Francesca Curti e Stefania Piersanti (a cura di), In presentia mei notarii. Piante e disegni nei protocolli dei Notai Capitolini (1605–1875), Roma, Ministero per i beni e le attività culturali, Direzione generale per gli archivi, 2009, ISBN 978-88-7125-306-0
  3. Studios
    — Stabilimenti Cinematografici e Multimediali.
  4. Roma Capitale
    — Da Bene Confiscato a Bene Comune.
  5. Photo of the chapel on Flickr
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