Castel Giubileo (zone of Rome)


Castel Giubileo is the second Zone of Rome in the Ager Romanus, identified as Z. II.

History

The history of the current Castel Giubileo dates back directly to the ancient city of Fidenae which, based on archaeological evidence, was built around the 11th century BC in an extremely important strategic position between Via Salaria and Via Nomentana.
From here, it dominated the commercial routes between Etruria, Sabina and southern Italy, as well as the navigable stretch of the Tiber, where the commercial traffic took place.
The settlement, surrounded by walls, extended its control also to the area of Monte Sacro and was flourishing – above all in consideration of the fertility of the soil – even before the foundation of Rome.
In 1280 the area belonged to the monastery of St. Cyriacus.
Later, the castle was purchased by Pope Boniface VIII, maybe with the proceeds from the 1300 Jubilee; hence the origin of the name Castel Giubileo is commonly assumed. Actually the name derives from that of the Giubilei family from the rione Trevi, to which a certain Buzio di Giubileo belonged still in 1371.

Due to the strategic importance of its location, the condottiero Paolo Orsini attacked and occupied it in 1406. Stories of looting and depredations continued in the following periods, thus decreeding the complete abandonment of the Castle until the end of the 19th century, when it began to be used for agricultural purposes.
The present urban settlement was built after World War II by immigrants coming from many Italian regions, including the first Venetian farmhands, called by Mussolini for the reclamation of the Ager Romanus.

The Castel Giubileo train wreck

On 12 August 1900, at. 11:51 pm, the area was the scene of a serious train wreck, which occurred along the Florence-Rome railway.
A failure to report a train, which had stopped due to a breakdown, caused a rear-end collision with twenty victims and a hundred injured.
The disaster had great resonance at the time, as the crashed train was transporting the foreign delegations who had just attended the funeral of King Umberto I and the subsequent coronation of Victor Emmanuel III.
Among the victims was the Baron Giuseppe Baratelli, Senator of the Kingdom, to whom Alfredo Oriani dedicated his book Ombre di occaso.
Among the other passengers involved in the wreck there was the Duke of Oporto, the Turkish delegation and the representative of the King of Belgium, who suffered the fracture of both legs.

Geography

The zone is located in the northern area of the city, close to and inside the Grande Raccordo Anulare. The territory of Castel Giubileo includes the urban zones 4D Fidene, 4E Serpentara and part of the urban zone 4L Aeroporto dell'Urbe.
The historical village of Castel Giubileo, wedged between the Via Salaria and the river Tiber, is made up of three small, distinct cores, one of which is located on the low hill where the homonymous castle rises.
The two cores at the foot of the hill converge in a larger one in the north, structured according to a sequence of parallel streets between two main roads which can be regarded as the main axes of the settlement. At the western end of this area there are small artisan businesses and some hotels. The commercial area extends along the axis in the south.
Another housing complex is located close to the bank of the Tiber: here there is a primary school and a nursery.
The shopping center Galleria Porta di Roma, surrounded by Via Casale Redicicoli, on the border with Casal Boccone, was inaugurated in 2007.

Boundaries

Castel Giubileo borders northward with Zona Marcigliana, whose boundary is marked by a stretch of the Grande Raccordo Anulare, between Ponte di Castel Giubileo and Via di Settebagni.
Eastward, the zone borders with Zona Casal Boccone, from which is separated by Via di Settebagni, Viale Franco Arcalli, Piazza Giulietta Masina, Via Elsa de' Giorgi, Via Giuseppe De Santis and Via delle Vigne Nuove up to the Viadotto Antonio Segni.
To the south, it borders with Zona Val Melaina : the border is marked by Viadotto Antonio Segni up to Via Giacomo Brodolini, then by the latter up to Via Gaetano Martino, by Via Pian di Scò ; from here, as the crow flies, to the river Tiber.
To the west, Castel Giubileo borders with Zona Grottarossa, from which is separated by the Tiber, up to the Ponte di Castel Giubileo.

Historical subdivisions

The frazioni of Colle Salario and Villa Spada belong to the territory of Castel Giubileo.

Odonymy

In addition to the odonyms of the area of Fidene, Colle Salario, streets and squares are mainly dedicated to actors and directors and to opera singers. In the frazione of Villa Spada, there is a group of streets named after religious personalities. Odonyms of the zone can be categorized as follows:
The area is crossed by a viaduct, three sections of which are dedicated to the presidents of the Italian Republic Sandro Pertini, Antonio Segni and Giuseppe Saragat.

Infrastructures and transports

The Fidene railway station, which is located along the Florence–Rome railway, is served by regional trains managed by Trenitalia on the basis of the contract of service stipulated with the Lazio Region.
Between 1906 and 1932 the locality was also served by a stop of the Rome-Civita Castellana tramway, managed by Società Romana per le Ferrovie del Nord.

Places of interest

Civil buildings