Central and Western Ostia

This route extends from the centre towards the western part of the city. It starts from the Post Office with its peculiar shape which wants to link two important parts of Ostia: the building is on a corner lot between via del Mare and corso Duca di Genova, which is the first parallel road to the promenade and it goes right down to the Idroscalo (the seaplanes docking base).

After visiting the Post Office you turn right in corso Duca di Genova which begins with a building designed by Enrico Vallini in the 1920s. after a few meters you get to piazza Duca di Genova, a small square, which is delimitated, towards the sea, by two complexes. The first on the axis with via Orazio dello Sbirro, was built in 1931 by Enrico Vallini and Luigi Moretti. The second was designed by Mario Monaco and built one year later. The comparison between the two buildings expresses the speedy changes which took place in the 1930s, just when the Modernist movement was starting.

This long road continues with buildings built in different periods. Just after the crossroad with via Giuliano da Sangallo, one opposite the other are another two complexes
other) which have antithetical compositional modalities.
On the left is the school dedicated to the Garrone brothers, designed in 1932 by Ignazio Guidi and unveiled on 21 st April 1934 in front of Benito Mussolini.

Opposite are two buildings designed by architect Carlo Palmerini in 1926 on behalf of Rome’s Public Housing Institute. Past via delle Sirene you get to the former Opera Nazionale Balilla (a fascist institution), which today is nearly completely abandoned, that is object of some future projects.

Back on via delle Sirene you could arrive right to the sea. On the left you find the impressive former seaside summer camp the Marine Colony Vittorio Emanuele III, whose entrances are on the promenade or on via Adolfo Cozza.

Going along the promenade, on the left, you find the main side of the seaside summer camp colony, while opposite, there are some beach resorts equipped with bars and restaurants.

You pass via Giuliano da Sangallo and you again turn towards via degli Aldobrandini, where you find Santa Teresa di Gesù Bambino’s church, built in the 1930s. you enter piazza Tor San Michele, a small square delimitated by a small period building. Going down via degli Aldobrandini, on the right, there is a small building built in 1924 by Mario Vodret, characterized by a very special aspect which makes it attractive.
The road opposite, via Dante Alighieri, ends in piazza Quarto dei Mille, a vast open area where on Wednesdays and Saturdays is a very busy local market where a lot of local people go.

Via degli Aldobrandini finishes in piazza Duca di Genova. From there, turning right, you get to the Post Office in a couple of minutes, which is the location from which this tour started.