The city of Pomezia, in the province of Roma, is less than a 100 years old. It was founded by order of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini and was inaugurated on October 29, 1939. The original population of the town consisted of poor peasants originating from the north of Italy. In order to be able to start building the city, the Pontine marshes needed to be drained first.
Pomezia travel guide
Tourist information
Tourist information office: Piazza Indipendenza, 11/12 – Pomezia (Phone: +39 06 91146500; opening times: Tuesdays to Fridays: 9.30 to12.30 and 16.30 to 19.00; Saturdays and Sundays: 10.30 to 12.30 and 16.30 to 19.00.
Town hall: Piazza Indipendenza, 8 – Pomezia (Phone: + 39 06 911461).
How to get there
By car: The SS148 Pontina connects Pomezia to both Rome and Latina. The SP95b Laurentina connects the city to Rome. The SP3 connects the city to Rome and to Ardea. The SP601 connects the suburb of Torvaianica to Anzio and to Ostia.
By train: The city has its own railway station, although this is not located in the center, but in the suburb of San Palombo.
By bus: There are Co.Tra.L buses to Rome and to Latina. The buses from Rome leave at 07.30 AM (except on Sundays) from the Laurentina metro stop.
A brief history of Pomezia
Pomezia was first to be called Ausonia, but the name was changed before the work was even finished. The town took only 18 months to build, the first stone having been laid by Mussolini himself on April 25th, 1938.
Originally meant to be an agricultural village, after the war, during which it was bombed heavily as a result of the presence of the German army, Pomezia became an industrial center. This was mainly thanks to the money pumped into southern Italy through the so-called Cassa per il Mezzogiorno.
In the 1980s, when the money for the south dwindled, many smaller businesses, and later bigger ones as well, were forced to close their doors. In the 2nd half of the 1990s Pomezia started growing again, since many Romans started moving there, but its lack of infrastructure never allowed it to really develop.
Tourist attractions
For tourists the frazione (suburb) of Pomezia called Pratica di Mare is interesting because it is the location of the ancient port of Lavinium.
The Pratica di Mare Air Force Base is often a location for air shows.
The Zoomarine water amusement park is in Torvaianica, another suburb of Pomezia. There are free shuttle buses from Roma Termini (Bar Trombetta, right across from the Via Marsala Exit, 9AM and 10AM, full is full and precedence is given to those already in possession of a ticket for the amusement park.)
The frazioni of Pomezia, in alphabetical order:
Borgo Santa Rita – Campo Lemini – Cinque Poderi – Colle Santa Procula – Conforti – Guardapasso – La Macchiozza – Le Vittorie – Monachelle – Opera Bartolomasi – Pratica di Mare – Santa Palomba – Santa Procula – Sedici Pini-Colli di Enea – Spiaggia di Rio Torto – Stazione di Pomezia – Sughereto – Torvaianica – Torvaianica Alta – Viceré – Zingarini and Zolforata.
Similar towns reclaimed from the marshy land are Sabaudia, Aprilia and Pontinia.