Tor Vergata Rome

The Estate of Tor Vergata, now the Tor Vergata University, a great source of pride for both its' students and residents. The Tor Vergata estate and hamlet were located between Via Tuscolana and Via Labicana, south of the 13th km of Via Casilina. According to A. Nibby, the name "Tor Vergata", very common in the Roman country, comes from the striped (vergata) look, resulting from the redbricks alternated with greyish tufaceous bricks used to build the tower. In order to trace the origins of Tor Vergata or to identify who built the tower who lived in it and determined its fate, we need to examine the history of Rome during the XII, XIII, XIV centuries, when important families had a political and military influence in the area. Tor Vergata is first mentioned in a deed dated May 2nd 1361 by which Tebalduccio, belonging to the powerful and rich Annibaldi family from Montecompatri, sold a quarter of the estate to Andrea Oddone de Palombara. Tabalduccio had inherited the estate from his father Butius who had, in turn, inherited it from his father Giovanni I, the son of Riccardo Annibaldi. The most accredited hypothesis is that the hamlet built by senator Riccardo Annibaldi around the Turris Virgata of the XIII century formely belonged to Magister Stephanus. In sixty years, the estate was completed and the tower became part of the estate, changing its name into Turris Virgate. In fact, in the act of 1301 Giovanni I inherited the Turris Magistri Stephani