Located on the coastline of Lazio, north of the delta of the Tiber, Fiumicino has become a municipality since 1992, after its detachment from Rome's territorial district XIV. It forms a single center with Isola Sacra, from which it is separated only by a stream of the river Tiber called Fossa Traiana. The town's name appears for the first time in the XI century and derives from "foce micina" (small mouth, with reference to the Fossa Traiana). Till 1800 Fiumicino was just a small cluster of fishermen's huts and only in 1823 Giuseppe Valadier designed the urban structure of the new city, whose population developed with the construction of the International Airport "Leonardo da Vinci" in the 50s of the XX century.
Favorite destination for the Summer holidays of the Romans, is popular for its excellent seafood specialities.
Sites of Interest:
- the rests of the Imperial ports of Claudius and Traiano;
- the remains of early Christian Basilica of St. Hippolytus;
- the Ship Museum, which displays an interesting collection of Roman ships of the Imperial period, retrieved in the reservoir of the port of Claudius;
- the Tower of Alexandria, one of the several watchtowers built by the Papal States to defend the coast from the Saracen incursions and today incorporated into two modern buildings;
- Torre Clementina, built in 1773 by Pope Clement XIV, it continues to be the emblem of the city, even though it was destroyed by the German troops during World War II;
- the district of Valadier, designed by Giuseppe Valadier and includes a church, a custom house, a post office, a Health factory (today seat of the Town Hall), a hotel, several restaurants and residential buildings;
- the Church of Santa Maria della Salute, designed by Valadier, a centrally planned building with a lowered dome and features a Neoclassical façade with a pediment and a series of columns;
- the Fountain of the Five Moons.