Caffarella

History III century A.C.: Attilio Regolo’s family owned part of Caffarella.

II century A.D.: The park became property of Annia Regilla’sfamily. After that the park was acquired by her husband Erode Attico.

III century A.D. : In the park Massenzio built a palace, a circus and the grave of his son Romolus.

Republican period/Roman Empire : the valley was full of big villas, small temples and graves, but we don’t have any information about them.

V century A.D. . : When the Roman Empire collapsed, Caffarellawas slowly abandoned; all the area became part of acclesiasticpossessions.

Middle Age : the feudalism and the consequent fortification of Roman country made Caffarella really important for military reasons. Many watchtowers were built and the valley was used as a quarry.

16th century: The Caffarelli, the new owners, built a farm from the complex of fortification and watchtowers, the Vaccarecciahouse .

1695: the land was acquired by the Pallaviciniand then by the Torlonia in 1816. After that the park became the property of the Gerini.

Napoleonic period: the Napoleonic prefect Camille De Tournon, planned an archaeological park in the complex of the Appian Way, but after Napoleon’s death the project was abandoned.

Camille de Tournon

Torlonia’s family coat

of arms

Laws 1950: Caffarella was placed under safeguard in accordance with Law

1497/39 for the protection of natural beauty. A joint committee of technical experts and politicians was mandated to draw up A Landscape Territorial Plan, a charter that would indicate to municipalities and Superintendent whether and how to build in an area so protected. This commitee wanted to preserve the area but, after the reactions of l the landowners, it was dissolved.

1960: a new committee was formed that published a new Landscape Plan which allowed the construction of 4 million cubic metres in the park.

1962: In the plan of Rome took back the proposal “Gerini”: he sponsored a Landscape Territorial Plan which was to offer the municipality the whole central area of the park ( which is characterized by marshes, dumps, the reed beds) and obtaining in exchange the permission to build houses on the hilly sides. This protest caused dissent in the cultural world and a petition was presented to preserve the whole area as a public park.

1965: the new Plan was approved by the Ministry of Public Works with 2,500 acres of protected public green along the Appian Way.

1984: all protection laws and constraints had expired; the land, coming under the provisions of the infamous Plan of 1962. In addition the park was subject to a total degradation, since the municipality had neither the funds nor the will to make a new expropriation. In this very difficult context a group of young people decided that it was necessary to take action and created the Committee for the Park of Caffarella.

1986: areas subject to greater decay are cleaned up and drained. 1996: 10 billion euro were allocated for assistance, equipment and

renovation of the Park within the funds allocated for the Great Jubilee of 2000.

1997: beginning of procedures for the acquisition of the first 70 hectares of Caffarella and its environmental remediation and the restoration of monuments with funding from the Jubilee of 2000.

2005: new expropriation of 40 hectares as well as the farmhouses, 2010: the City releases the smaller houses expropriated and

occupied illegally for the purpose of activity and information as required by the Plan for the Use of Caffarella.