Infernetto
Understand
Infernetto has an ancient history starting with the Roman Empire. It was a big cultivated area but after the decline of Roman Empire the land was abandoned for ages and become a wetland and malaric zone.
In the last centuries the land was inhabited by a few people that were living in thatched huts from a group of hunters or lumberjacks, but mostly were people that were making coal by burning the wood from the local forest in a stack covered by 40 cm of soil. Soon the coal from wood became the first economy in the zone to sell in Rome. The name Infernetto derives directly from this economy, as during the 18th and 19th century one could see a big column of dark smoke in the sky, sometimes even from the center of Rome, made from the coal production. If translated to English, the name Infernetto means "little hell". During the Fascist period the land was drained, and started growing up as a farm town. During the 1970s, it became an illegal residential area, and many people began to build houses without governmental licenses and without any urban plan. Therefore, you will now find many narrow streets, unsealed roads, and areas without any drinking water or sewers.
In the middle of the 1990s the Rome city council started to claim the street for reconstruction, and built new infrastructure. Now, Infernetto is one of the most rapidly developing areas surrounding Rome. Farm land is fast giving way to the concrete industry, and many houses, resorts and buildings are arising.
Infernetto is in the 13th zone of Rome, in the south of the city near to Ostia Lido and the seaside. It's surrounded almost totally by the Castelfusano Pinewood and the presidential estate, and is connected on the north side via Cristoforo Colombo street (which is the northern border of this zone) to the rest of city.
Get in
By public transport
- Bus from Lido centro, the Ostia lido station (easy to arrive there by the Lido train, leaving from Piramide underground line B), take the line 06 which goes straight on viale di castelporziano, the main street.
- By EUR Fermi underground station line B take the bus 709 for Infernetto, careful because this line goes on 2 different track, before get in ask the driver about the direction.
- By car take the via Cristoforo Colombo, is a main highway which connects Ostia with the center of Rome, and if coming from rome turn left anywhere you want along the last kilometers before Ostia, you will find many streetlights for turning.
Get around
See
The Castelfusano Pinewood is a huge pinewood between Infernetto and the seaside. Walking or traveling by bicycle may be the best way to see it. You will find a lot of wild animals and the Villa di Plinio, an archeological area from the Roman Empire. To get the villa when you are on the viale di Castelporziano, in the area closed to cars, you will find another unsealed road on the left (if going to the seaside). Turn there and go straight for a few km and in the middle of forest you will find the best archeological area inside the pinewood.
Visit the spectacular underground waterworks from the 700s BC situated at the junction between via Bedollo, via San Candido and via Salorno. These are not easily accessible because the city council give the license to build a building right on the waterworks and smash them in the process, but group of residents are trying now to save the waterworks and give them back to the locality and tourists.
Viale di Castelporziano is the main street, a really long street which connects the seaside, the Castelfusano Pinewood and the castle inside the presidential lands. It is easy to recognize because the street is all in shade of a big pine trees on both sides of the road.
Do
The easiest way to visit the area is to get a bicycle, but be careful because the streets are narrow and really easily flooded in bad weather. Also, many streets are unsealed.
Cars can't go inside the pinewood so you will really enjoy riding a bike inside the forest.
Eat
- Restaurant "il Cinghiale", Viale di Castelporziano (at the junction with via Canale della linga and via Nicolini). Really good pizza and local meat and "affettati' a mix of Italian salami and prosciutto.
- Ristorante Mediterranea (also known as Evandro) (really easy to find, straight in the heart of Infernetto on the main street, viale di Castelporziano, at the junction with via Egna). The best pizza restaurant in the zone.
- La Dispensa, Viale di Castelporziano (junction with via Salorno). If you are in a hurry, get a white sliced pizza and fill up with some salami or Italian prosciutto at "la Dispensa".
Drink
Sleep
Especially in summertime this is a great location to stay, really close to the Ostia Lido beach, surrounded by a huge pinewood forest; it's a good spot for people looking for fresh and clean air, easily accessible from the center of Rome by Cristoforo Colombo Highway and the international airport of Fiumicino.
Bed and breakfast
Hotels
- Best Western Infernetto.
- Hotel Aris Garden, ☎ +39 06-52362443. 4 star
Stay safe
Don't go around the pinewood after sunset, that area becomes an illegal prostitution place with many strange and sometimes dangerous people, ladyman, pimps, and more.
Mind that, except for the main streets like viale di Castel Porziano, almost all roads are unsealed or in bad condition with many big potholes, even the rain drainage is in bad condition or even doesn't exist so with a rain condition it becomes hard to going around the area, if you go by car be careful, the potholes are really big and in flooded you will get stocked easy in the mud.
Even nearly all of the streets doesn't have a footpath so you will always walk on the street and sharing the road with other bicycle, pedestrians, scooter, cars and huge truck. In recent years the city council has start to build up a big footpath on viale di castelporziano, the main street, but the work's going really slow.
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