Little Italy is a neighbourhood of

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada, and the cultural centre of Ottawa's

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

community. Situated in

Centretown West Centretown West is a neighbourhood in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It lies to the west of Bronson Avenue, east of the O-Train Trillium Line, north of Carling Avenue, and south of Nanny Goat Hill , which is an escarpment to the north of Somerset Str ...

, it is bounded by Albert Street to the north,

Carling Avenue Carling Avenue is a major east–west arterial road in the west end of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It runs from March Road in Kanata to Bronson Avenue in the Glebe. The road is named for John Carling, founder of Carling Brewery and Conservative M ...

to the south, the

O-Train The O-Train is a light metro transit system in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operated by OC Transpo. The O-Train system has two lines, the electrically-operated Confederation Line (Line 1) and the diesel-operated Trillium Line (Line 2). Since May 20 ...

Trillium Line The Trillium Line (french: Ligne Trillium), also called O-Train Line 2 (french: Ligne 2 de l'O-Train), is a diesel light rail transit (DLRT) service in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operated by OC Transpo. The line has been closed since May 2020 f ...

to the west, and approximately

Bronson Avenue Bronson Avenue ( Ottawa Road #79) is a major north-south arterial road in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It starts as a continuation of the Airport Parkway, which is an expressway to the Macdonald-Cartier International Airport. It continues past Carl ...

to the east, while the neighbourhood's main commercial area is along Preston Street. Little Italy is adjacent to

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...

, whose business district centres on Somerset Street.

History

Little Italy was initially settled around 1900 by Italian immigrants. Following a fire at a small Murray Street chapel, the 1913 founding of St. Anthony of Padua Church at the corner of Booth Street and Gladstone Avenue cemented the immigrants' connections with the neighbourhood. Roughly between

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, a second wave of Italian immigrants was joined by communities of Ukrainian and Polish immigrants in the area. In recent years with the integration of European immigrants, the neighbourhood has found itself home to Asian immigrants, primarily from China and Vietnam. In the 1960s a large section of the poorer neighbourhood was demolished, and replaced with the High School of Commerce, today the

Adult High School An adult high school or adult school is a high school facility designed for adult education. It is intended for adults who have not completed high school to continue their education. Some adult high schools offer child care, special integration pro ...

in 1967. Since 1975, each June the neighbourhood hosts the Italian Week festival, Ottawa's celebration of Italian culture. In 2018, Ottawa's tallest tower, the

Claridge Icon The Claridge Icon is a 45-storey condominium tower under construction in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the intersection of Carling Avenue and Preston Street in Little Italy. When the structure topped out in 2019, it became the tallest ...

, was built to the south end of the neighborhood at the intersection of Preston and Carling. Nearly a dozen projects are either proposed, approved or under construction, including three buildings that will claim the top three spots on the city's list of tallest buildings. These projects are fueled by a recent service improvement announcement for the O-Train

which will result in an eight-minute headway between trains at

Carling Station Dow's Lake station (formerly known as Carling) is an O-Train station on the Trillium Line, one block west of the intersection of Carling Avenue and Preston Street in Ottawa, Ontario. It is near Dow's Lake the western terminal of the Rideau Can ...

as well as a new community design plan calling for high density near the transit station.

Culture

Two area streets have been given commemorative Italian street names.

Gladstone Avenue Gladstone Avenue is a street in Ottawa running east from the Rideau Canal west to Parkdale Avenue. It is a historically residential street running just south of the downtown core, with a number of small houses in the downtown section now converted ...

is also called ''Via Marconi'', and Preston Street is called ''Corso Italia''.

Gallery

Preston Street Ottawa.jpg, Archway entrance Prestonstreetlittleitaly.JPG, Preston Street is a major commercial street in Littly Italy St Anthony's Roman Catholic church Ottawa.jpg,

St. Anthony of Padua Anthony of Padua ( it, Antonio di Padova) or Anthony of Lisbon ( pt, António/Antônio de Lisboa; born Fernando Martins de Bulhões; 15 August 1195 – 13 June 1231) was a Portuguese Catholic priest and friar of the Franciscan Order. He was bor ...

is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

church in Little Italy

References

* * *

External links

Corso Italia NewsPreston Street Business Improvement Area

St. Anthony's ChurchIl Postino Canada
{{authority control Ethnic enclaves in Ontario European-Canadian culture in Ontario Neighbourhoods in Ottawa