San Lorenzo Rome

San Lorenzo: The University Neighborhood

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San Lorenzo Rome: History
San Lorenzo was built between 1884 and 1888 in Rome. At the beginning there was no intention of building a working-class area, but during the housing crisis that exploded in the years between 1888 and 1890 several buildings were converted into lodgings for the poorest class. The name San Lorenzo derives from the San Lorenzo gate to the city, where Via Tiburtina now enters the city. In 1909 a town-planning scheme was passed to put the district in order. This was the only district that tried to stop the Fascist March on Rome and for this reason it was labeled a ''Red'' or communist area, as well as Testaccio and other historical districts. Later San Lorenzo was attacked by a punitive expedition lead by Italo Balbo.

The urban structure of the district has the shape of an extended quadrilateral and is hemmed in by the Labican walls, the cemetery of Verano, Via Tiburtina and Rome's freight railroad hub. Built outside the Roman walls, San Lorenzo has become a village inside Rome. Besides the urban isolation there is also the social one. The inhabitants of San Lorenzo were of a low rank: construction workers, railway, and tramway employees, craftsmen, garbage collectors, etc. This was due to the fact that in the district there was the frieght yard, the reservoir of the main waterworks, the railway depot, the repair shop destined to the construction of railway transport, the cemetery an so on. As a result the district of San Lorenzo became the working-class core of the Eternal City.

In 1943, during the second world war, San Lorenzo and its frieght yard were the most damaged and attacked by an air raid in Rome together with the following areas of the city: Tiburtino Prenestino, Casilino, Tuscolano and Labicano. In the years following the war San Lorenzo remained a working-class district. Over time San Lorenzo has had a leading role in students’ protests and has become the site of Lotta Continua and the center of activities of the extra-parliamentary left. Today San Lorenzo belongs to everyone. It is a district frequented by university students, enlivened by restaurants, pubs, wine bars and cultural associations.

San Lorenzo Rome: Historical places
If you have the time to do so, San Lorenzo is a great place to explore on foot. This Roman neighborhood hosts many hidden treasures, ancient and modern, and is a unique mix of what Rome was and is. Perhaps the most important sight is the Basilica of San Lorenzo Outside the Walls, which is one of the five most important Rome churches to visit. You should also follow the ancient city walls through the neighborhood until you arrive at Porta Tiburtina. Also built into the walls is Villa Gentili-Domicini, a fascinating corner of Rome in which a villa has been built into the ancient city walls themselves. Lovers of architecture will also want to visit the Cerere Bakery, Wuhrer Beer-House and Sciarra Glassworks, as they are examples of the industrial architecture of the beginning of the XIX century. Verano Cemetery is also a very important monumental structure, and if you can say a cemetery is beautiful, it definitely is.

More and different things to come in San Lorenzo Rome.


 

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