Street Name Game

Italian street signs—nuggets of vocabulary, history, and whatever Italians hold dear

Perugia’s medieval streets are full of stories. Photo mine.

Cari amici,

It occurred to me, out walking one day, that reading street names is a good way to learn Italian vocabulary. And it comes with a bonus: once you start deciphering the names, you get better acquainted with whatever city you’re in. Street names tell us which aspects of place, person, or character the city deemed worth memorializing—and those things, in turn, reveal its values. And so down the research rabbit hole I went, because if my city thinks someone or something was important enough to memorialize, I should know why. And why led to who, what, where, when, and many, many hours of reading, the results of which I’m now inflicting on you.

This post isn’t as Perugia-centric as it seems, though—vocabulary is vocabulary, after all, and some of the mini-morsels of history I plan to shove down your throat are part of Italy’s story, not just Perugia’s. And the reason I’m overloading you with info here is to show you just how much there is to be learned by noticing where you are, what name it’s been given, and digging into the why. What follows is just a sample of what I learned.

Vocabulary

• Via Armonica:  harmonic or harmonica (was it a peaceful place, or cursed with incessant harmonica music?)

• Via Benincasa: a given name that means “welcome in the home” (and makes a warm and fuzzy place name)

• Via Baciadonne: “kiss” + “women” (a sort of lover’s lane, I suppose)

• Via Bella: beautiful

• Via Bonaccia: a state of calm

• Via del Cane: dog (in Perugia, every street could be named Via del Cane)

• Via del Canterino: someone who sings a lot for pleasure, or possibly a little song

• Via Cartolari: cartularies (which are books of charters and title deeds, especially relating to estates or monasteries; interestingly, the street is near the San Fiorenzo monastery)

• Via del Cotogno: quince

• Via Curiosa: curious (me too!)

• Via della Formica: ant (nooooo!)

• Via Guerriera: warrior

• Via Maestà delle Volte: majesty of the vaults (a spectacular street—yep, even majestic)

• Via del Naspo: hose reel (um, what?)

• Via Orizzonte: horizon (makes sense; there’s a good view of the valley from there)

• Via Parione: from parietone, meaning a big wall

• Via della Pernice: partridge

• Via Piaggia dei Filosofi: piaggia means downslope; the street runs downhill into Via dei Filosofi (philosophers)

• Via Ritorta: twisted

• Via del Sacco: sack, big bag

• Via del Salto (jump) and Via della Scala (staircase or ladder): both with steep steps

• Via del Sette: seven (seven what?)

• Via della Siepe: hedge

• Via Snella: lean, slender, streamlined

• Via della Sposa: bride

• Via della Stella: star

• Via delle Streghe: witches

• Via della Tartaruga: tortoise

• Via del Topo: mouse or rat (ewwww!)

Places

• Via dell’Asilo: shelter, refuge (now, also nursery school)

• Via Campo Battaglia: battlefield

• Via Fiume: river

• Via della Gabbia: cage (this street runs behind Palazzo dei Priori where, in medieval times, a cage attached to the building exposed prisoners to public ridicule and stoning)

• Via del Poggio: hill

• Via della Torricella: tower-house (there was one at the start of the street)

Religious names

Naturally, like anywhere in this Catholic country, Perugia’s streets honor religious figures, including the Madonna (Virgin Mary) and saints such as San Girolamo (St. Jerome), San Giuseppe (Joseph), San Domenico (Dominic), and Sant’Antonio (Abate, not the famous St. Anthony of Padua). And a few names are more tangential, like this one:

• Via del Verzaro: verzaro comes from the Latin viridarium, meaning a zone rich with orchards and vegetable gardens. In this street is the Chiesa di San Martino del Verzaro, where a ceramic image shows him doing what he’s famous for: cutting his cloak in two to help clothe a beggar.

San Martino doing his thing. Photo mine.

Dates/events (in chronological order)

• Borgo 20 Giugno: On June 20, 1859, during “I Straghi di Perugia” (the Massacres of Perugia), the papal troops of Pope Pius IX occupied Perugia and murdered civilians to punish the city for rebelling against Church rule.

• Via 14 Settembre: on September 14, 1860, Perugia was liberated from papal rule and became part of the Kingdom of Italy.

• Via 20 Settembre: an important date in the Risorgimento (Italian revolution), the fight to become a unified nation. On September 20, 1870, Kingdom of Italy troops breached Rome’s Porta Pia, wresting control of the city from papal rule.

• Piazza Quattro Novembre: November 4, La Giornata dell'Unità Nazionale e delle Forze Armate (National Unity and Armed Forces Day), a national holiday established in 1919 to commemorate Italy’s victory over the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I.

• Viale dell’Indipendenza: independence, which I assume refers to Festa della Liberazione, celebrated on April 25, which honors the Italian Resistance’s victory over Fascism and the puppet state of the Italian Social Republic during WWII.

Notable people (each category in chronological order)

Artists

• Via Benedetto Bonfigli: Perugia-born painter Bonfigli (1420-1496) was part of the Umbria school of artists that included Perugino (see below) and Raffaello. His masterpiece is the frescoed chapel in Perugia’s Palazzo dei Priori (now in the Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria); he also did work at the Vatican.

• Via del Roscetto: goldsmith Francesco di Valeriano da Foligno, known as Roscetto, was resident in Perugia in the 1400s. His artist sons, Federico “Il Trippa” and Cesarino, made the gilded and silvered copper Reliquiario del Santo Anello housed in Perugia’s duomo, Cattedrale di San Lorenzo.

• Via Pinturicchio: perugino artist Bernardino di Betto (1454-1513), aka Pinturicchio (“little painter,” due to his short stature), studied with Bonfigli and worked with Perugino. His Assumption of Mary fresco, painted on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, was destroyed when Michelangelo painted his Last Judgment there.

• Corso Pietro Vannucci: best known as Perugino, Vannucci (1483-1520) was a major Renaissance artist (and Raffaello’s teacher). His fresco Consegna delle Chiavi (in which Christ delivers the keys to St. Peter) is in the Sistine Chapel.

Image of Perugino’s Consegna delle Chiavi from Wikipedia

Military figures, statesmen, politicians

• Via Baglioni: from 1438, the noble Baglioni family ruled Perugia for more than a century. Perugia was a violent place, and having power meant having enemies (in this case, within the family). In 1500, after a wedding celebration, most of the Baglioni were massacred in one bloody night called Le Nozze Rosse (the Red Wedding). The Baglioni retained power until 1540 when Pope Paul III destroyed their homes and built a fortress, the Rocca Paolina, on the ruins.

• Corso Giuseppe Garibaldi: Italy’s cities and towns are filled with statues, streets, and piazzas that honor this most celebrated fighter for Italian unification. Garibaldi (1807-1882), along with Cavour (see below) and two others, is considered one of Italy’s “fathers of the fatherland.”

• Corso Cavour: Camillo Benso di Cavour (1810-1861) was an Italian politician and economist and a leader in the movement toward Italian unification. He served as prime minister of Italy, prime minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia, minister of finances, and minister of agriculture and trade. No wonder you find streets named for him all over Italy.

• Piazza Felice Cavallotti: a politician, poet, playwright, journalist, and co-founder of the historical Extreme Left, Cavallotti (1842-1898) fought for social justice and against corruption and colonialism. He died from wounds inflicted during a duel of honor.

• Via Guglielmo Oberdan: a soldier and an ardent supporter of Garibaldi, Oberdan (1858-1882) was an irredentista (meaning he believed all Italian-speaking districts subject to other countries should be returned to Italy). He was hanged for treason after he tried to transport bombs to Trieste (his hometown) to liberate the city from Austro-Hungarian rule.

• Via Cesare Battisti: a national hero born in Trentino while it was still part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. An irredentista like Oberdan (above), Battisti (1875-1916) was hanged for treason in Trento. Historical sources say that at his death he yelled, “Viva Trento italiana! Viva Italia!”

  

  That hair though! Photo of Cesare Battisti from Wikipedia

• Piazza Giacomo Matteotti: Matteotti (1885-1924) was a socialist politician from the Veneto who spoke out against Fascism and Mussolini and was assassinated.

• Via Fratelli Pellas: named for two perugino heroes of WWI, the brothers Leopoldo and Demetrio Pellas.

Architects

• Via Galeazzo Alessi and Via Baldassare Orsini: Alessi (1512-1572) and Orsini (1732-1810) were both perugino architects; Orsini was also a historian.

• Via Guglielmo Calderini: the designer of many buildings in Perugia and Rome, Calderini (1837-1916) is best known for the Palazzo di Giustizia in Rome, known by the pejorative nickname “il palazzaccio.” One critic described it as “una massa di travertino in preda al tetano” (a mass of travertine in the throes of tetanus).

Mathematicians and scientists

• Piazza Ignazio Danti: Pier Vincenzo Ranaldi, a mathematician, goldsmith and designer of astronomical instruments, loved the writings of Dante so much that he asked the authorities in Perugia to change his surname. Thus Pier Vincenzo and his sons became known as “the Danti.” Ignazio was Pier Vincenzo’s grandson Carlo Pellegrino, who changed his name when he took religious orders. He taught mathematics and science to the daughters of the Florentine aristocracy.

Historians and bookish types

• Viale Pompeo Pellini: the most important perugino historian, Pellini (1523-1594) literally wrote the book on his hometown, Dell’Historia di Perugia.

• Via Prospero Podiani: one of the most important bibliophiles in Italy and in all of Europe, Podiani (1535-1615) founded the Augusta library in Perugia.

Basta! I hope this inspires you to dig into some vocabulary and history when you’re in Italy. After doing all this research I feel much better acquainted with my adopted hometown. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find a city or town that doesn’t pay tribute to the omnipresent Garibaldi and Cavour. Then let me know so I can have a word with the powers that be.

Alla prossima,

Cheryl

©2023 Cheryl A. Ossola

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Book of the week:

• An Illustrated History of Perugia by M. Grazia and Nico Ottaviani

P.S. My book! Which you can buy here or on the usual sites. Another fab option is to ask your local library to stock it.

If you read it and like it, please tell your friends and/or leave a few lines of praise on any bookish site. You’ll make me over-the-moon happy. Baci!