Forte Tiburtina, Roma

Forte Tiburtina is a military fort, part of Rome’s ring of fifteen such works. Built across a broad tract beside Via Tiburtina, it takes its name from that road, a reminder that defence once reached far beyond the celebrated historic core. Construction began in eighteen eighty and concluded in eighteen eighty-four.

The fort belongs to Collatino, within Municipio Roma IV. Nearby stood the barracks of the mechanized Granatieri di Sardegna brigade, named for Captain Albanese Ruffo; they remained active into the early years of the new millennium. The scale here matters: the fort covered twenty-three point eight hectares. Notice the enclosed, purposeful character of the grounds: this is a surviving piece of the defensive network built around modern Rome.