The article helps travelers discover some symbolic places of the Trieste district such as the Virgiliano park, the Sant’Agnese complex and the African neighborhood.
Trieste district (Quartiere Trieste)
Padri stanchi tornano a casa
Dal lavoro in moto
È quasi buio soltanto luci verdi e
Rosse ed arancioni e gialle
E sotto gli alberi non
Fanno luce neanche quelle
Song “Corso Trieste” from album “Glamour” of band “I Cani”.
Tired fathers go home
From work by motorcycle
It’s almost dark only green lights and
Red and orange and yellow
And under the trees
Those don’t shed any light either
Song “Corso Trieste” from album “Glamour” of band “I Cani”.
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The song from the band I Cani, written by Niccolò Contessa, tells the story of an evening along Corso Trieste, the main street of the Trieste district, one of the most elegant districts in Rome. The district is located just outside the center of Rome and is home to both the charming Coppedè district and the splendid Villa Ada.
Tip: Trieste is served by the “Sant’Agnese/Annibaliano” and “Libia” stops of the underground line “B”, in the direction of “Jonio”. However, note that from the “Bologna” station, the “B” underground line splits in two sections. One section proceeds in the direction of “Jonio”, while the other goes in the direction of “Rebibbia”.
Consequently, travelers must be careful to take the metro in the direction of “Jonio” and not “Rebibbia” when they get on the “B” metro stop in the section between the “Laurentina” and “Bologna” stations.
Virgilian Park (Parco Virgiliano)
Hours: 07:00 am to sunset
travelers can get off at the “Sant’Agnese/Annibaliano” stop to reach Piazza Annibaliano. From there, you can continue north along Viale Eritrea, then turn left into Via Lago di Lesina. About five hundred meters later, you will find a green area full of tall trees, the Virgiliano park. The name derives from the Latin poet Publio Virgilio Marone, because the authorities established the park in 1930, the year in which the two millennia of the poet’s birth occurred.
The elegance of the virgilian park
Walking in the park, a traveler will realize that he is in one of the most elegant areas of Rome. In fact, in addition to many children who populate the area, there are elegant young people and elderly men who wear suits while walking their dogs.
The area is renowned for being the residence of famous people, such as Paolo Villaggio and Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. The first was a Genoese comedian who let Italian people laugh by playing the character of the accountant Fantozzi, a shy employee who represented the difficult life of humble and subordinate men.
Ciampi, on the other hand, is one of the most illustrious Italians of the twentieth century, considered one of the fathers of the Euro coin. Born and raised in Livorno, he moved to Rome where he became the governor of the Bank of Italy. In the 1990s, Ciampi held the positions of prime minister, minister of the economy and finally the most important position, that is, President of the Republic.
The history of the park
The Municipality entrusted the green area project to Raffaele De Vico, the most famous architect of Roman parks, including the central park of the lake in Eur and the Colle Oppio park . The park thus divides tall trees: lime trees flank the main avenues, pines are found in the contours of the fountain with the pond, and holm oaks in the secondary avenues.
The initial project included a concert area, which was later removed to make way for a chalet that houses a bar. When we visited the park on a spring Saturday, lots of children were running and playing around the chalet, as if it were a birthday party.
Children populate the entire green area, as many play ball on the avenues even though a large space is completely reserved for them. In fact, the Municipality has recently added many children’s games near the skating rink, which were already included in De Vico’s project.
Ugo Forno
A plaque commemorates the child Ugo Forno, the last martyr of the resistance against Nazi-Fascism. In 1944, Ugo Forno was just twelve years old and lived near Virgiliano park when he noticed American troops entering Rome to free the city from German soldiers. The war ended for the city of Rome, but the Nazis were still present in the city, albeit on the run.
Ugo Forno and other very young boys went with weapons in hand on the Salario bridge, to prevent the Nazis from blowing up the bridge during their escape. During the clash with the German army, Ugo Forno and one of his friends were mortally wounded. Their sacrifice was not in vain because the boys managed to save the bridge.
The complex of Sant’Agnese outside the walls
Furthermore, after reaching Piazza Annibaliano from the “Sant’Agnese/Annibaliano” station, travelers can take the narrow Via di Sant’Agnese. After about three hundred meters, you will notice a gate from which you enter the monumental complex of Sant’Agnese outside the walls.
The Basilica of Sant’Agnese
The Basilica of Sant’Agnese outside the walls is open from Monday to Saturday in the morning from 09:00 am to 12:00 pm and in the afternoon from 03:00 pm to 07:00 pm. On Sunday it opens only in the afternoon.
Pope Honorius first had this paleo-Christian basilica built in the 7th century where a decadent church had stood a few centuries earlier, of which only the ancient walls remain. Subsequently, splendid Baroque decorations adorned the church of Sant’Agnese.
Saint Agnes is a twelve-year-old martyr who was killed during the persecutions of the pagan emperor Diocletian. According to legend, the son of the prefect of Rome fell in love with the young Agnes, but she rejected him because she had taken a vow of chastity.
After various punishments, the young woman was condemned to the stake, but her flames did not scratch her and her hair grew long to cover the parts of her body that were left bare by the burnt clothes. Finally, one soldier killed her by striking her with his sword.
The catacombs of Sant’Agnese (Le catacombe di Sant’Agnese)
Sant’Agnese was buried together with her sister Sant’Emerenziana in the place where, a few centuries later, Pope Honorius I built the basilica. Today, at the entrance to the Basilica, you can take part in a guided tour of the catacombs of Sant’Agnese, in order to observe the two tombs. The tours depart every hour, lasts thirty minutes and can only be done with a guide in Italian or English at the price of 10 euros.
The catacombs are open in the morning from 10:00 am to 01:00 pm and in the afternoon from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. On Wednesday, they open only in the morning, while they are closed on Monday and Sunday. It is advisable to check the special opening and closing days of the catacombs at this link . Furthermore, it is possible to buy tickets online with a surcharge of 2 euros for the presale at this link.
The mausoleum of Santa Costanza (Il Mausoleo di Santa Costanza)
The mausoleum opens daily in the morning from 09:00 am to 12:00 pm and in the afternoon from 03:00 pm to 06:00 pm.
The most precious building of the complex is the mausoleum of Santa Costanza, which contains the tomb of Constantina and Elena, two daughters of Constantine, the Roman emperor who allowed the practice of the Christian religion. The daughter Costantina, also called Santa Costanza, was devoted to Sant’Agnese because she was miraculously cured of an incurable disease once she went to the tomb of Sant’Agnese.
Santa Costanza first built a basilica and then the mausoleum near the catacombs of Sant’Agnese. The mausoleum, with a round shape, has an internal hall surrounded by columns that separate the center of the hall from the circular passage along the walls. Between the columns and the walls visitors can still see some original mosaics from the 4th century AD, while the mosaics in the dome have been destroyed.
Villa Leopardi Dittajutti
Hours: 7:00 am to sunset
If from the Sant’Agnese complex travelers set off in a northerly direction on via Nomentana, they will reach the public park of Villa Leopardi Dittajutti in less than 500 metres.
The history of the villa
The noble family Leopardi Dittajuti from the Marches bought this agricultural land at auction in 1886. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the noble lords built a villa in a neo-medieval style, with various references to Gothic architecture, and the garden that surrounded it.
The works lasted throughout the first half of the twentieth century, then the area went into decline. The cottage first became a hotel and then a brothel. The Municipality expropriated the area in 1976 and used it as a public park. The cottage briefly housed the command of the traffic police, before remaining in disuse. Today, the park contains a community center for the elderly and a city library.
The garden is a small green pearl in the heart of the capital, which winds its way through winding avenues and reveals exotic flowers and plants among native trees such as holm oaks and pines. The wonderful magnolias shine, where parrots find rest. The park is very well cared for thanks to the intervention of the association of friends of Villa Leopardi and has both a playground and a fitness area.
A plaque is dedicated to the memory of Vittorio Occorsio, a judge killed nearby on his way to work at the wheel of his car. The judge was assassinated by fascist terrorists because he had conducted numerous trials against them in his career.
The Garden of the Hours (Il giardino delle Ore)
On the opposite side of the casino, along via Makallè, there is another small green area, now renamed the garden of the Hours. In the dog area a distinguished lady throws the ball to her beautiful black greyhound. A fence surrounded by terracotta jars surrounds a space where the sun is depicted spreading its rays.
Above the garden of the Hours, you can see a very special reinterpretation of Picasso’s Guernica. The Harmonia association, an ONLUS that deals with home care for people with disabilities, collaborated with the Murequal artists to create the mural. In fact, artists with disabilities cooperated in the material realization of the work.
The African neighborhood (Il quartiere Africano)
Viale Libia
Villa Leopardi is located near the African neighborhood, so called because of the street names that recall the colonies of the kingdom of Italy. Today, Viale Libia is a promenade of elegant shops, tasty pastry shops and a large Feltrinelli bookshop. Here is the “Libia” metro stop.
My wife and I love the African neighborhood also because it houses the delicious AMMU pastry shop. We think its cannoli espresso is the best in Rome and every time we pass by, we can’t go home empty handed.
In 1942, the church of the same name dedicated to the sister of Sant’Agnese was built in Piazza Sant’Emerenziana. According to the hagiography, the saint was stoned by pagans along the Via Nomentana, during the persecutions against Christians begun by the emperor Diocletian. The parish houses a large mosaic entitled “Exaltation of the church”, created in 1968 by the artist and Franciscan priest Ugolino da Belluno.
Villa Chigi
From the “Libia” underground station, you can easily reach the park of the eighteenth-century Villa Chigi. In fact, the traveler can move towards the west, where in a few minutes he will come across via Valnerina. Here are a couple of entrances to the Villa, which has a large green area.
The Sienese Chigi family was one of the most powerful and richest in Italy. Cardinal Flavio Chigi bought this area to build a holiday home. At the end of the eighteenth century, the cardinal created the garden, characterized by a large central avenue. The area is populated by holm oaks among the streets that descend along the slopes of the park.
Today, the villa remains private, while the park is a public garden restored in 2003. We visit it on a weekend in February, when a group of children is celebrating carnival. A string of kids run frantically in front of us. An exuberant little girl, dressed like a Disney princess, notices that we are taking pictures and tries in every possible way to get into the lens.
In the park, a wreath commemorates the nineteen-year-old Paolo di Nella, a young fascist killed in nearby Piazza Gondar in 1983, just as he was putting up posters to support the public takeover of Villa Chigi. At that moment, two young men hit him on the temple with a blunt object.
Paolo got up and got home, but his situation got worse and he died nine days later in the hospital. Both the mayor of Rome Ugo Vetere and the President of the Republic Sandro Pertini visited the family as a sign of closeness.
Written by Enrico, Translated by Hua and Photos from Hua
