(map) 
When snapping pictures at random old things gets… old, a place like EUR (ay-oor) offers a different perspective from a darker time in the eternal city.
Mussolini did not find Rome’s clustered, cramped and cobblestoned roads to be as charming as they are viewed today. Thus, in order to demonstrate a modern Rome for the 1942 World Exhibition, the Esposizione Universale Roma was created.
EUR was to be expansive and big. Large buildings with clean lines and order; streets with grand views and positioned monuments. This was a far cry from Rome at the time. The mini city was originally intended to be a gateway to the future of Rome which would expand the fascist architecture, and its message, all the way to the sea.
World War II brought the project to an end of course, leaving an unfinished and ominous feel to this proposed alternative future. Exploring it today one can imagine that possibility. The Square Colosseum and the Palazzo dei Congressi, along with other remnants, are waiting to be discovered and interpreted. Try to picture the Rome that could have been, and be thankful it is not.
Scroll down for both final photos.
- Contributed by Justin Carbonari, student, American University of Rome.
Fascinating history. Thanks for your note.
I was there only once many years ago and actually liked it.
It is an alternate universe! Wasn’t it also a venue for the
1960 Olympics?
Amen!
HORRORS!!! Don’t even want to imagin it.
The black & white photos give this post the ominous feel it speaks of. I love the “old” found everywhere in Italy & certainly would not want to see it replaced with these “dry”, straight lined modern buildings.
Viva L’Italia!
Funny to realize that Italy is now part of EUR-O.
I always have trouble finding the right pronunciation of EUR, so thanks for the phonetics.
Some fascisctic architecture isn’t that bad really, I think e.g. of the municipality (I believe) in Pavia.
Some of the most ugly fascist buildings, I find, are the Palazzi della
Giustizzia all over Italy.
I believe that last image is of a building that Julie Taymor used to great effect in her movie version of TITUS ANDRONICUS. I always wondered where she found that place. Thanks for the insights.
My family and I lived in EUR for three years in the early 1960′s. We hd no car and chose EUR because the Metro (subway) took us to centro in 15 or 20 minutes. Thanks to Mussolini, EUR now is one of the most pleasant areas to live–wide streets, relatively new apartment buildings, beautiful stores and restaurants, a short hop to the beach or downtown via the Metro. Only Mussolini could have commandered the building of the subway from Roma’s Termini under the Colosseum and priceless Roman ruins to EUR and on to the sea.
My young daughter and I loved walking up the steps of the “sqauare Colosseum” and looking at the huge statues of Castor and Pollux. We walked up Viale Europa to the church of Saints Peter and Paul, and loved having little picnics by the lake in front of the Palazzo dello Sport. In the summer music was played and colored lights were programed to reflect the crescendoes and dimuendoes of the music.
Luna Park was a playground for the young. The Museum of Roman Civilization with the scale model of Constantine’s Rome was at the time in one of the “fascist buildings.” We loved living in EUR those first years in Italy.
Thank you for the beautiful photos… Upon visiting EUR it didn’t escape me that I was seeing the paintings of Giorgio de Chirico in living 3D; I like the architecture but not what it stood for.
I never heard of this city or the history so this was a nice bit of information to learn. The pictures are nice to go with it and give quite an ominous and eery feeling. I can’t comment on anything as others before me since I have no knowledge of it but I can say how impressed I always am at the architecture and the way it has managed to last for so many years. Puts many modern day structures to shame when we are supposed to have more technical stuff at our disposal. Thanks for this history lesson. They are always appreciated.
Thanks for the kind words, everyone.
I stayed in a flat in EUR district when I last went to Rome. I had booked it in a website that deals in apartments rental in Rome . The apartment was ok, but I didn’t like the neighbouring area very much.