The Ghetto of Civitavecchia

The old district of the Ghetto of Civitavecchia expands around piazza Antonio Fratti, a stone's throw away from Corso Centocelle and from the entry point to the Port of Varco Fortezza. The area is beyond doubt one of the most alive in the ciy and with its restaurants, bars, pubs and pizzerias especially during the week-end it works as an authentic magnet for young movida.

If you are looking for a bar where to get a drink or have a tasty aperitif with your friends you are in the right place! In the last years, the Ghetto, especially along Via Enrico Toti, has actually attended to the increase of pubs, wine bars and clubs with tables both in open air and inside.

The area is also busy during the day since in the nearby there are shops, gelaterias and there is also a useful wi-fi hotspot .

But before going to get your drink, what about learning some history? We promise not to bore you too much!

You must actually know that despite the name that it bears, the area has never really been inhabited by Jewish families. At the end of the seventeenth century, Pope Innocent XII disposed for this area of about four hectares, enclosed between Fort Michelangelo and the massive wall of Pope Urban VIII, to be used to create a district for Jews. There's where the name of Ghetto comes from, even though in those buildings never lived Jewish people. The buildings, actually, where inhabited by families of fishers and workers coming from the Kingdom of Naples.

Absolutely not to be missed in this area, a few steps from Fort Michelangelo, is the Sanctuary of the S.S. Concezione, also known as “Church of the Ghetto”, precisely.

At the end of the 16th century, it was built in this place which at the time was in the open countryside, outside the medieval walls. It is a church officiated by the Franciscans, which in 1804 was elevated to a parish and entrusted to the Conventual Minors.

In 1854, when preparations for the communion of some children were taking place, the Marian miracle occurred, in which the Madonna moved her eyes. This episode occurred for three consecutive months and impressed all the citizens.

Renovated from the foundations in 1856, it is the first parish in the world dedicated to the Immaculate Conception.

Outside the church, in the "Piazzale degli Eroi", there is a very significant monument, created by the Turin sculptor Remo Riva during the period following the First World War. Known as the “War Memorial”, it is dedicated to the fallen of the First and Second World Wars.

Inside on the left it is possible to admire the tomb of Alessandro Cialdi, the last commander of the papal fleet. While on the right there is a small confessional with a wooden sculpture depicting Jesus Christ, created by a soldier of the Second World War.