Foro Italico
Encyclopedia
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
. It was built between 1928 and 1938 as the Foro Mussolini (literally Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
's Forum
Forum (Roman)
A forum was a public square in a Roman municipium, or any civitas, reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, along with the buildings used for shops and the stoas used for open stalls...
) under the design of Enrico Del Debbio
Enrico Del Debbio
Enrico Del Debbio was an Italian architect and university professor.Born at Carrara, he studied in the Fine Art Academy there specializing in architecture; he moved to Rome in 1914 where he won several architectural awards. He also began to teach in the Scuola Superiore di Architettura...
and, later, Luigi Moretti
Luigi Moretti
Luigi Walter Moretti was an Italian architect.- Education and academic career :He was born in via Napoleone III, on the Esquiline Hill, in the same apartment where he lived almost his entire life...
. Inspired by the Roman forum
Forum (Roman)
A forum was a public square in a Roman municipium, or any civitas, reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, along with the buildings used for shops and the stoas used for open stalls...
s of the imperial age, its design is lauded as a preeminent masterpiece of Italian Fascist architecture instituted by Benito Mussolini
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....
.
It contains numerous sports venues, such as the Stadio Olimpico
Stadio Olimpico
The Stadio Olimpico is the main and largest sports facility of Rome, Italy. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex on the north of the city. An asset of the Italian National Olympic Committee, the structure is intended primarily for football...
, the Stadio dei Marmi
Stadio dei Marmi
The Stadio dei Marmi is a sport stadium in the Foro Italico, a sport complex in Rome, Italy.It was designed in the 1920s as a complement to the annexed Academy of Physical Education , to be used by its students for training. Construction, designed by Enrico Del Debbio, was finished in 1928...
and the Stadio del Nuoto
Stadio Olimpico del Nuoto
The Stadio Olimpico del Nuoto is an aquatics centre at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy. Inaugurated in 1959, it was designed by the architects Enrico Del Debbio and Aniballe Vitellozzi to host the swimming, diving, water polo, and swimming portion of the modern pentathlon events for the 1960...
("Swimming Stadium"), and it has hosted important events, most prominently the 1960 Summer Olympics
1960 Summer Olympics
The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held from August 25 to September 11, 1960 in Rome, Italy...
. The tennis center is the host of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia, an ATP World Tour Masters 1000
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 is a series of nine tennis tournaments that are part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America and Asia...
and WTA Premier
WTA Premier tournaments
Premier Tournaments is a category of tennis tournaments in the Women's Tennis Association tour.Premier events include:*Four "Premier Mandatory" events in Indian Wells, Key Biscayne, Madrid, and Beijing with prize money of $4.5 million....
event. The tennis stadium court formerly had a capacity of 8,000 spectators; however a new center court was constructed for the 2010 tournament, which has 12,500 seats.