Founded under the name of Littoria during the twenty years of fascism, 72 Km from Rome with fascinating Rationalist geometries, architecture and urban plan, a candidate for Unesco World Heritage Site, there is Latina, one of the youngest Italian cities.
The historic centre is unique in its kind, built following the land reclamation of the Pontine Marshes in the late 1920s.
As soon as you arrive, your eye is drawn to the two main squares: Piazza del Popolo (already Piazza del Littorio), seat of the City Hall with the characteristic Civic Tower and the so-called Palla fountain in the centre.
On one side of the piazza is the arcade of the Revenue Office of the Ministry of Finance. The other is Piazza della Libertà (Piazza XXIII Marzo when the city was founded), today home of the Prefecture.
Walking towards Piazza del Popolo, we come to Piazza San Marco (Piazza Savoia when it was founded), overlooked by the Cathedral of San Marco, built along the lines of a Romanesque basilica with the typical portico and artistic stained glass windows.
But Latina, for over 10 years, has also been a point of reference for Street Art, contemporary urban art, a way to narrate the existential unrest, but also “the seven or seventy wonders” of a city, the deep and immediate link between the artist/designer and the observer.
Finally, the proximity of the city to the sea is not to be overlooked, located about 7 Km away.
If you travel the Via del Lido up to Latina-Lido, there is a beautiful seafront with the beaches of Capoportiere, Foce Verde and Rio Martino, also accessible via a modern cycle path.
Then, the gastronomic specialties of the Pontine territory are not to be missed: from the exquisite Tiella of Gaeta (savoury pie with meat or fish filling between two sheets of dough similar to that of pizza, but which requires more care and handy skill), to anchovies and sardines worked into meatballs, the DOP artichoke of Sezze, and the Bazzoffia or “soup of love” typical of the areas of Sezze and Priverno, made with stale bread drenched with different vegetables such as artichokes, broad beans, peas, together with chard, lettuce and fresh onion.