Piazza Albania is a square of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

(

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

), placed along

Viale Aventino Viale Aventino is a street that links Piazza di Porta Capena and Piazza Albania in Rome (Italy). It marks the boundary between the Rioni of Rome, Rione Ripa (rione of Rome), Ripa (towards the Aventine Hill) and San Saba (rione of Rome), San Saba ...

, not far from

Porta San Paolo The Porta San Paolo (English: Saint Paul Gate) is one of the southern gates in the 3rd-century Aurelian Walls of Rome, Italy. The Via Ostiense Museum (') is housed within the gatehouse. It is in the Ostiense quarter; just to the west is the Roma ...

, at the footsteps of the

Aventine Hill The Aventine Hill (; ; ) is one of the Seven Hills on which ancient Rome was built. It belongs to Ripa, the modern twelfth ''rione'', or ward, of Rome. Location and boundaries The Aventine Hill is the southernmost of Rome's seven hills. I ...

History

The square was conceived together with the urban development plan of 1883, that, amongst other things, provided for the urbanization of the whole

, the enlargement of the urbanization in

Testaccio Testaccio () is the 20th of Rome, Italy, identified by the initials R. XX, deriving its name from Monte Testaccio. It is located within the Municipio I. Its coat of arms depicts an amphora, referencing to the broken vessels that Monte Testaccio ...

towards Via Marmorata, and of San Saba. It was a district that, since then, had been left substantially rural and little inhabited: this allowed to trace the almost straight paths of the present Viale Aventino and Via della Piramide Cestia. The square was initially called ''Piazza Raudusculana'', as it is placed where the former ''Porta Raudusculana'' (no more existing) rose; it changed its name on July 4, 1940 and became Piazza Albania to commemorate the annexation of Albania to the

Kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

, that had taken place the previous year. The square lies at the vertex of a vast green triangle (now called ''Parco della Resistenza dell'8 Settembre'') and is surrounded by buildings erected between the 1930s and the 1960s. In the middle stands out the equestrian monument to

George Kastrioti Skanderbeg Gjergj Kastrioti (17 January 1468), commonly known as Skanderbeg, was an Albanian feudal lord and military commander who led a rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in what is today Albania, North Macedonia, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Ser ...

, the 15th-century national hero of

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

, by the sculptor

Romano Romanelli Romano Romanelli (14 May 1882 – 25 September 1968) was an Italian artist, writer, and naval officer, known for his sculptures and his medals. Romanelli was born in Florence, the son of sculptor Raffaello Romanelli. Romano's works occupy an impo ...

References

Albania–Italy relations Rome R. XXI San Saba {{Rome-stub