Guidonia Montecelio (), commonly known as Guidonia, is a town and ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' in the

Metropolitan City of Rome Capital Metropolitan City of Rome Capital ( it, Città metropolitana di Roma Capitale) is an area of local government at the level of metropolitan city in the Lazio region of the Republic of Italy. It comprises the territory of the city of Rome and 120 o ...

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, central Italy.

Geography

The municipality of Guidonia Montecelio, formed by the main towns of Guidonia and Montecelio, lies to the north-east of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, some kilometres from the

Grande Raccordo Anulare The GRA or Grande Raccordo Anulare (literally, "Great Ring Junction") is a toll-free, ring-shaped long orbital motorway that encircles Rome. GRA is one of the most important roads in Rome, and traffic reaches 160,000 vehicles per day as of 201 ...

- a ring-shaped motorway which forms a circle around the capital. The terrain of Guidonia Montecelio is mainly flat, and the community lies in between the

Via Nomentana Via Nomentana is an ancient road of Italy, leading North-East from Rome to Nomentum (modern Mentana), a distance of . It originally bore the name "Via Ficulensis", from the old Latin village of Ficulea, about from Rome. It was subsequently extend ...

and the

Via Tiburtina Via Tiburtina is an ancient road in Italy leading east-northeast from Rome to Tivoli (Latin, Tibur) and then, with the via Valeria, on to Pescara (Latin, Aternum). Historical road It was probably built by the Roman censor Marcus Valerius Maxi ...

. It borders with

Fonte Nuova Fonte Nuova is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Italian region Lazio, located about northeast of Rome. The ''comune'' was created in 2001 from the ''frazioni'' of Tor Lupara di Mentana and Santa Lucia di Mentan ...

, Marcellina,

Palombara Sabina Palombara Sabina ( Romanesco: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, Italy. Main sights * Savelli- Torlonia Castle, built from the 11th century by the Ottaviani, a branch of the Crescentii family of Rome. Antipope Innocent ...

San Polo dei Cavalieri San Polo dei Cavalieri is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Italian region of Lazio, located about northeast of Rome. San Polo dei Cavalieri borders the following municipalities: Guidonia Montecelio, Licenza, Ma ...

Sant'Angelo Romano Sant'Angelo Romano is a town and ''comune'' in Latium, Italy, administratively part of the Metropolitan City of Rome. It is located north of Guidonia Montecelio, where the closest Trenitalia train station (about 40 minutes by train from Rome) is ...

and Tivoli. The hamlets (''

frazioni A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist era (1922–1943) as ...

'') are Albuccione, Bivio di Guidonia, Colle Fiorito, Colleverde, La Botte, Marco Simone, Montecelio, Pichini, Setteville, Setteville Nord, Villalba and Villanova.

History

Montecelio was founded in 998 as a fortified ''

castrum In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a po ...

'' (''Castrum Monticellorum''). In 1915 the ''

Regio Esercito The Royal Italian Army ( it, Regio Esercito, , Royal Army) was the land force of the Kingdom of Italy, established with the proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy. During the 19th century Italy started to unify into one country, and in 1861 Manfre ...

'' (Italian Royal Army) built a major military airport in the area for its ''Corpo Aeronautico Militare'' (Military Aviation Corps), the predecessor of the Italian Royal Air Force founded in 1923. Guidonia was erected as a ''

'' in 1937 by

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

, its name chosen to honour the ''Regia Aeronautica''

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

Alessandro Guidoni (1880–1928), who had died on 27 April 1928 while testing a new

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, who ...

at the air force facilities.

Economy

Today the town is part of the

Rome metropolitan area The Rome metropolitan area is a statistical area that is centred on the city of Rome, Italy. It consists of the entire province of Metropolitan City of Rome Capital (formerly known as the Province of Rome) and a single commune, Aprilia, in the n ...

, with a massive presence of industry (mainly

travertine Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a pro ...

caves and

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...

industry) and the

service sector The tertiary sector of the economy, generally known as the service sector, is the third of the three economic sectors in the three-sector model (also known as the economic cycle). The others are the primary sector (raw materials) and the second ...

. The number of residents

commuting Commuting is periodically recurring travel between one's place of residence and place of work or study, where the traveler, referred to as a commuter, leaves the boundary of their home community. By extension, it can sometimes be any regul ...

is high, with transport in a critical situation. Guidonia is also home to

Marco Simone Golf and Country Club Marco Simone Golf and Country Club (also known as Golf Marco Simone) is a golf course in Guidonia, Rome, Italy. It is 10 miles from the city centre of Rome and has 2 golf courses, an 18-hole Championship Course and a 9-hole Resort Course. In 2015 ...

, which was announced as the host of the 2022 Ryder Cup in June 2015, but with the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

postponing the 2020 Ryder Cup to 2021, subsequent matches were pushed back a year with Marco Simone now hosting the event in 2023.

People

David Di Michele David Di Michele (; born 6 January 1976) is an Italian football manager and former player in the role of striker, last in charge as head coach of Serie C club Turris. Throughout his playing career, he played for several Italian clubs, and als ...

- Football pl payer * Mikeshowsha - Italian Youtuber

International relations

Guidonia Montecelio is twinned with: * Kawasaki, Japan *

Cape Canaveral , image = cape canaveral.jpg , image_size = 300 , caption = View of Cape Canaveral from space in 1991 , map = Florida#USA , map_width = 300 , type =Cape , map_caption = Location in Florida , location ...

, United States. *

Kashira Kashira (russian: Каши́ра) is a town and the administrative center of Kashirsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Oka River south of Moscow. Population: History It was first mentioned in 1356 as the village of Koshira ...

, Russia

References

External links

Local portalNews & Info from Guidonia Montecelio

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Lazio Italian fascist architecture