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Title
The gasometro, an example of industrial archaelogy in Rome, Italy #312515602
Description
A colossal iron structure that is almost 90 meters in height and with a diameter of 63 meters, nicknamed for its monumentality the âIndustrial Colosseumâ or âModern Colosseumâ and used as a film backdrop by Pasolini for his famous Accattone and by Ferzan Ãzpetek for The Ignorant Fairies.A part of the cityâs urban landscape, the Gazometro is one of the most striking emblems of Romeâs industrial archaeology. It is located in the Ostiense district, in an area where the first industrial settlements had already begun to spring up at the end of the 19th century, thanks in part to the construction of the Ponte dellâIndustria bridge, commissioned by Pius IX to allow the Rome-Civitavecchia railway to cross the Tiber. The real turning point for the district, however, came in the early 20th century, with the Nathan municipal council: the river port with the adjoining general warehouses, the Centrale Montemartini and, indeed, the gas plant (today Italgas) with the gasometer date from these years.The structure visible today served to store gas, managing its production and consumption, and followed the construction of three âsmallerâ structures by Samuel Cuttler & Sons of London between 1910 and 1912. Work on the great Gazometro â the most imposing in Europe with a capacity of 200 thousand cubic meters of gas â began in 1935