Via Cristoforo Colombo (or just ''la Colombo'', as it is often called by the Romans; ) is a street in

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 ...

(

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

) that links the historic centre to Ostia. Along most of its route, the street has three lanes for each direction of movement. With its length it is the longest Italian road among those included within the borders of a single municipality and, in several stretches, the largest in Italy. Via Cristoforo Colombo starts from

Porta Ardeatina Porta Ardeatina was one of the gates of the Aurelian Walls in Rome ( Italy). The gate was built in the time of Nero. It stands at an angle in the Aurelian Walls. It was placed in a halfway point between Porta Appia and Porta San Paolo, close ...

and continues south-west, ending on the coast in the district of Castel Fusano.

History

The street was designed in 1937 with the name of ''Via Imperiale'', as a part of the five-years plan of works associated to the 1941

World's fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

: it should have linked the centre of the town to the new exhibition buildings ( EUR) and then continue towards the ''

Lido di Roma Ostia (, ; officially Lido di Ostia) is a large neighbourhood in the X Municipio of the ''comune'' of Rome, Italy, near the ancient port of Rome, which is now a major archaeological site known as Ostia Antica. Ostia is also the only or distric ...

'', according to

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 Fall of the Fascist re ...

's project of enlargement of Rome ''to the sea''. See Anna Maria Ramieri and Simone Quilici in the Bibliography section

Route

It starts from the Aurelian Walls, close to

, and goes southward, soon trespassing a stretch of the bypass (Via Cilicia) and the rail circuit near the

Roma Ostiense railway station Roma Ostiense is a railway station in Piazza dei Partigiani serving the Ostiense district of Rome, Italy, a short distance from the Porta San Paolo. It is run by the Rete Ferroviaria Italiana arm of the Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane group and t ...

. At Piazza dei Navigatori it turns westward, running along the Palace of

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

Region on the right and the former Fiera di Roma. After passing the complex of junctions from which Viale Marconi starts ( Marconi metro station, line B), it trespasses the sports facilities of Tre Fontane and enters the Europa Quarter. In correspondence to the EUR lake ( EUR Palasport and EUR Fermi metro stations, line B), it trespasses the reservoir and divides itself into two separated stretches that pass the PalaLottomatica. After crossing Viale dell'Oceano Pacifico and Viale dell'Oceano Atlantico, the street leaves the EUR Quarter and the more densely inhabited area of the town. Soon after the trunk road nr. 148 "Pontina" comes off on the left and after a few kilometres the street underpasses the Grande Raccordo Anulare; Via Colombo can be accessed from the Raccordo just from its outer lane. Starting from Via del Risaro it runs along the presidential estate of Castelporziano, then reaches Casal Palocco and, after passing the pine forest of Castelfusano, ends in Piazzale Cristoforo Colombo in Ostia, close to the railway station with the same name. The street is lined with stone pines.

Topography

As a major route of the great metropolitan viability, Via Cristoforo Colombo marks the borders between several quarters and zones of Rome.

Right side

* Q. X Ostiense, from the Aurelian Walls to the viaduct of Via delle Tre Fontane * Q. XXXII Europa, from Via delle Tre Fontane to Via di Decima * Z. XXVII Torrino, from Via di Decima to the

Grande Raccordo AnulareRaccordo Anulare - South bypass Grande means "large" or "great" in many of the Romance languages. It may also refer to: Places * Grande, Germany, a municipality in Germany *Grande Communications, a telecommunications firm based in Texas * Grande-Rivière (disambiguation) * Arr ...

* Z. XXX Castel Fusano, from the

to Viale della Villa di Plinio * Q. XXXV Lido di Castel Fusano from Viale della Villa di Plinio to Piazzale Cristoforo Colombo * Z. XXXI Mezzocammino from Piazzale Cristoforo Colombo

Left side

* Q. XX Ardeatino, from the Aurelian Walls to

Via Laurentina The Via Laurentina is the name born by an ancient and a modern road of Italy, both leading southwards from Rome. The ancient road The question of the nomenclature of the group of roads between the Via Ardeatina and the Via Ostiensis is somewhat ...

* Q. XXXII Europa, from Via Laurentina to the

* Z. XXIV Fonte Ostiense, from the

to Via Pontina * Z. XXVII Torrino * Z. XXX Castel Fusano, from the

to Viale della Villa di Plinio * Q. XXXV Lido di Castel Fusano from Viale della Villa di Plinio to Piazzale Cristoforo Colombo * Z. XXXI Mezzocammino from Piazzale Cristoforo Colombo to Via di Malafede * Z. XXXIII Acilia Sud from Via di Malafede to Via Pindaro * Z. XXXIV Casal Palocco from Via Pindaro

Notes

Bibliography

* Anna Maria Ramieri, ''La via Imperiale e le scoperte archeologiche (1937–1941)'' in ''Gli anni del Governatorato (1926–1944)'', pp. 109–114, Collection ''Quaderni dei monumenti'', Rome, Edizioni Kappa, 1995. .
Simone Quilici, ''L'espansione di Roma verso il mare. La Via Imperiale'' in ''E42-EUR: segno e sogno del Novecento'', pp. 38-40, by Carlo Fabrizio Carli, Gianni Mercurio, Luigi Prisco, Rome, DataArs, 2005.

Simone Quilici, ''La Via Imperiale e lo sviluppo urbano delle aree circostanti'' in ''La Casa del Jazz a Roma. Il recupero di Villa Osio, sottratta alla criminalità e consegnata ai cittadini'', pp. 18-20, by Guido Ingrao, Milan, Electa, 2008.

References

1960 Summer Olympics official report.
Volume 1. pp. 80, 84.
1960 Summer Olympics official report.
Volume 2. Part 2. pp. 118, 316. {{coord missing, Italy Venues of the 1960 Summer Olympics Olympic athletics venues Roads in Italy

Cristoforo Colombo Christopher Columbus * lij, Cristoffa C(or)ombo * es, link=no, Cristóbal Colón * pt, Cristóvão Colombo * ca, Cristòfor (or ) * la, Christophorus Columbus. (; born between 25 August and 31 October 1451, died 20 May 1506) was a ...

Ostia (Rome) Olympic cycling venues Rome Q. XXXII Europa Rome Q. X Ostiense Rome Q. XX Ardeatino Rome Q. XXXV Lido di Castel Fusano