| Although the history of Ciampino is
not very important, the town has always been crossed by important
streets, such as: the Regina Viarum, this road linked the city
of Rome with the South of Italy and the oriental provinces of
the Empire; the via Latina, connecting the Agro Romano with the
Sacco valley and the Italic inland; and the via Mola Cavona, built
in a pre-roman age as a road for transhumance, linked the Tiburtini
Hills with the flat lands on the coast.
The first settlements can be dated back to the Roman age with
the construction of numerous villas, which increased in their
number during the Republican age. Among these villa it is worth
remembering that of Voconio Pollione, that of the gens Valeria,
and that of gens Captia. During the Middle Ages the rural population
inhabited few fortified places such as: Torre Sassone or Torre
Messer Paolo, controlled by the barons of the Castelli Romani.
Very important was the mill along via Cavona, as it is mentioned
in documents starting even from 1028. In the 17th century with
the construction of noble palaces and villas started the growth
of the town of Ciampino: at the crossroads between via Anagnina
and Via Cavona there was Villa Senni. It belonged to Giovanni
Giustino Ciampini (Rome, 1633-1698), prelate, scientist and
archaeologist very appreciated in Europe in that period. The
town was named after this person. The downtown is recent. The
railway station built between the 1861 and the 1892 is a very
important point of link with the southern regions of Italy;
in 1916 was inaugurated the airport and a carabinieri's
station.
Some years before, it was created an association ‘Società
Anonima Colli Parioli', whose purpose was to buy pieces
of the land near Campino to divide it into lots, and to create
according to the Howard's principle of the ‘garden
city', the garden city of Ciampino. This design however
failed, as most of the inhabitants were seasonal farmers. There
were other divisions into lots, because of the increasing number
of the citizens, attracted by the area's development.
With the construction of the cooperative wine growers'
association in 1938, the widening of the railway station and
the realization of the racecourse ‘delle Capannelle',
the initial idea of the garden city failed completely, and Ciampino
became a great agglomeration of buildings near Rome.
As the only sign of the past splendour there are some monuments,
among which it is worth mentioning the Mola Cavona along the
homonymous street. It is now very ruined but in the past was
the only mill of the area, object of the struggles between Grottaferrata's
abbey and the town of Frascati; the Casale Maruffi, built in
the 16th century, with a central structure built around a garden.
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