Mussolini and his personal propaganda. The myth and the power of the ancient Rome live again in the plan, the architectures and the building materials of a new, imperial looking district: the E.U.R.

A unique, enchanting area conceived and laid out on a human scale. A rural district where people could rely on togetherness while Rome was becoming a metropolis.

3 hours - walking tour / by taxi

White marbles, massive blocks of travertine, tall and squared buildings often decorated with arches, bold statues and sometimes topped by rhetorical inscriptions; wide boulevards intersecting perpendicularly together and merging towards huge squares. The E.U.R. is a remarkable example of architecture conceived and laid out in the 30's of the XX century by order of Benito Mussolini who aimed to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the rise of Fascism and house the World Trade Fair. The project failed because of II War World and just part of it was accomplished later in the 1950's for the Olympics.

Small apartment buildings, the linen laid out on the laundry lines, kids playing soccer, gardens where the inhabitants usually gather to socialize; shops, workshops, taverns besides washhouses, drying rooms and other facilities: the atmosphere at Garbatella is totally different. It is a well preserved district, planned between the 20's and the 30's of the XX century according to the pattern of the English "garden cities", sort of rural quarters, connected to the main city. The purpose was housing the several workers who merged from the countryside to Rome looking for job and give them a chance to live on a more human scale.