Certosa Biomarket
The Bio-market at Certosa is held the first Saturday of the month in a free area called Parco della Certosa, in front of the winebar Churno, which is also the meeting point for the solidarity based purchasing group of the neighborhood. At the bio-market there are many of the suppliers of the group, but not only.
A walk through the stalls
Among the most active ones, there is Federico, selling fruits and vegetables, and Massimo, citrus producers in Piana di Sibari in Calabria and rural sociologist in Rome, who tells us: “the idea of the market comes from a solidarity based group with the intention of organizing several initiatives around this area. In addition to the purchasing group and the market, we organize lunches open to all inhabitants and their friends, workshops for children and soon we would also like to start a vegetable garden. Our aim is to involve the whole neighborhood”.
In addition to Federico, who brings to the market fruits and vegetables but also oil, jams and honey there are: Fabio with his mother Maria “if we have ten eggs we bring ten, if we have six, six, then we have cheese, coldcuts and vegetables according to the season”; Maria Elena who produces saffron and nuts in Ronciglione, near Viterbo “I would like to transform my farm in an educational one, as of today I raise donkeys and I organize walks with them”; Alessandra and her brother who split themselves among different markets, she arrives in the middle of the morning, all stressed, but bringing an interesting alternative with her vegetables, eggs and conserves.
Another story is the one of Youssouf and of the micro-economy project Barikamà yogurt.
The name “comes from bambara language, talked in Mali where I come from and in other five countries in Eastern Africa, meaning durable”. In 2010 Youssouf was in Rosarno working as a day laborer “we were really exploited so we ran away, some of us met in Rome and created a group of 'Rosarno african workers' and thanks to an Italian girl who was making yogurt we started to produce it. At the beginning we were two producing 15 liters of milk per week and we were doing it by hand, now we are six and we make almost 200 liters as agreed with Martignano dairy. The bio milk comes from Castel di Nepi”. Up to date, the yogurt, which is delicious, is only white, but Youssouf tells us that there is a plan of producing also fruit yogurt, as around Martignano dairy there is room for a garden.
Alice’s wonderland
"When I went to Certosa bio-market the last thing I looked at, to be honest, was the market. All around the fruits, vegetables, cheese and cold cuts stalls, there were many things catching my eye. First of all the playground. A very small one: a slide, a swing, a merry-go-round on the soft floor where you can even fall without hurting yourself... well, having a market right next to a playground is a great idea for me!
Then tagliatelle (hand made noodles). Where in the world can you find a lady making tagliatelle at the market, with fresh bio eggs and the machine with the turning handle... and she not only tells you “come to watch” but finally she even lets you turn the handle?!
To tell you the whole story, at the end, I even ate those same tagliatelle, with a good tomato sauce.
So, first I played at the playground, then I had this big full plate of tagliatelle with sauce and when I actually realized we were at the market, it was time to go home. But, next time, for sure, I will ask to come back to Certosa biomarket!”
Just around the corner
The market at Parco della Certosa is in an area between the ancient railroad and the train track Roma-Giardinetti, between the imperial aqueduct Alessandrino and the renaissance one Acqua Felice, between Casilina road and Mandrione. Not Pigneto but not yet Tor Pignattara, this neighborhood with small colored houses and neat flowerbeds hosts one of the most well known Roman trattorie, Betto and Mery, and a number of new interesting restaurants.
So, after a good meal, it's time to take a nice walk along the arches of the monument which marks the border of the district: FELICE AQUEDUCT. So, once again, we have to talk about Felice Peretti, better known as Sisto V, the pope who redesigned the whole Eternal City in XVI century, giving it new splendor. The aqueduct built by the Pope in 1585, partially using the line and the materials of the ancient aqueduct Marcio, was the first one to be built after the Roman empire fall, over a thousand years later the last work of the kind. The final goal was private (the aqueduct was supplying Peretti villa, the Pope's majestic residence which was on the current Termini railway station area): what remains today is a giant – crossing railroads and buildings and melting with the new urban contest – which draws an evocative skyline, sometimes surreal as only in Rome can be seen.
Parallel to these arches – where in the 40s were opened the war gardens, the huts for the displaced people after the bombing, where small craftsmen, gipsies and prostitutes lived together – is Mandrione road, one the sites of the capital mentioned by Pasolini.
The poet used to walk here to find a fiercer humanity but at the same time more authentic, who had survived to the war but ended up chased away from the heart of the city to live in its huge suburbs. From World War II come some of the most bizarre items sold by MAGISTRI: officially it's a shop selling electromechanical materials, but it's actually a wonderland where you can find helmets and gas masks, pieces of jet planes and locomotives, phones used in the field and panzer lights. Such an offering that Magistri has earned a place on a guide “Unusual Rome”, published in France before than here.
The surreal effect of a visit to Magistri is a hint: walking along Mandrione road, more than recalling Pasolini, could be a Fellini-like experience. It's hard to describe with a different word the surprise of seeing a small size Colosseum, a Venus statue or an emperor's bust, a truth mouth or a bronze man: under the aqueduct, in front of our eyes, there seem to be a secret branch of Cinecittà, an abandoned set, or the dream of a crazy collector. It's actually all of this somehow: it's the FACTORY OF ANCIENT ROME, specialized in marble-cement sculptures. It's a factory of astonishment for the flaneur bumping into it by chance. A metaphor of the city, for those who like to philosophize: a Rome proud of its past but also able to make fun of itself, majestic and cheap, realist and unreal.
Gallery
