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'' meaning large fields, which is possibly a reference to the large amount of nature and vegetation present.

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

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