Strangely named places in Italy

For some reason, I love looking at maps of places I’ve visited or might visit, and in following this predilection, I’ve noticed towns near our Montecarlo home with some unusual names, including Malocchio and Femminamorta (translations would be Evil Eye and Dead Female). Finding these has prompted me to search for other towns in Italy that could rival these two for their peculiarity.

I quickly found a few that were mentioned in an Italian newspaper, including Strangolagalli (strangle the roosters), Belsedere (nice butt) and Purgatorio (purgatory). The article also named some unusual but complimentary places, such as Donnadolce (sweet woman), Buon Riposo (good rest) and Occhiobello (beautiful eye). However, many of the other names were, in my opinion, quite ordinary, barely deserving of mention. There was capracotta (cooked goat), golasecca (dry throat), povoromo (poor man) and others of that nature, but I wanted names even more unusual.

Since every little neighborhood in Italy has a name, I’m sure there are other equally strange ones, but they are not easy to find. One must enlarge the map to such a degree that only a very small area of land appears, and it would take weeks, maybe months, to scroll across the entire country. I’ve only given this project an hour of time, but I still found a few fascinating names.

Ponte delle Tette

Italians over the centuries have been close to nature and fairly earthy in their sensibilities. Thus names referring to body parts are not uncommon, starting with La Vagina (no translation needed). There is also the Ponte delle Tette in Venezia, and this is the only place where I have found an explanation of an unusual name. Sources say that this ponte (bridge) was historically a place for topless prostitutes to solicit clients. However, Venezia has another bridge with a saintlier name, the Ponte Ca’ di Dio (house of God).

Fellow members of a Facebook group helped me add to my list, finding Purgatorio in Sicily, Troia (slut) in Apulia, Scannacapri (slaughter goats) in Campagnia, Sesso (sex) in Reggio Emilia, Omo Morto (dead man) near Firenze and Bastardo in Umbria. My favorite of those sent to me was Ramazzano le Pulci (they sweep up fleas). There's also the well known but strangely named airport Malpensa in Milano. It doesn't hold up as completely grammatically correct, but Google translates Male pensa as thinks badly and DeepL as evil thinks.

It seems there are quite a few places that could refer to a person’s posterior, perhaps because of some geographic features. There are Chiappia, Chiappe, Chiappona and Chiapponi (butt, butts, big butt and big butts). And only about 10 minutes from Chiapponi is Varco di Chiappe (crack of the butts). I’m not making these up! You can verify it on Google maps.

Sadly, Google maps street view only
shows the beginning of the Via del
Cielo, leaving the rest for us to discover
on our own, I guess.

God, the devil and the afterlife have also inspired some interesting names. Venezia has a Corte di Cristo, and in the province of Perugia is a town named Casa del Diavolo (devil’s home), though it’s interesting to note that this town has a church ironically named Chiesa di Casa del Diavolo. Only 16 minutes away is a street named Via del Cielo (heaven), though one can see from aerial photos that it’s very small and narrow, perhaps in recognition of Matthew 7:14. I can’t tell if it has a gate or not. Meanwhile, the city of Firenze has three connected streets in the same neighborhood dealing with the afterlife: Via dell’Inferno, Via del Purgatorio and Via del Limbo. Nearby San Miniato, smaller than Firenze, has only a Vicolo (alley) dell’Inferno, whereas Napoli has the Valle (valley) dell’Inferno. Judging solely by the numbers, it’s much easier to find a road to hell than it is the road to heaven! There are no ands, ifs or butts about it.

Intersecting streets in Firenze. Take your choice: Purgatorio, Inferno or Limbo.