Latina (Lazio)

Latina is the capital of the province of Latina in the Lazio region, in central Italy. The city was founded by Benito Mussolini on 30 June 1932 as Littoria, named for the fascio littorio. Littoria was populated with settlers coming mainly from Friuli and Veneto, who formed the so-called Venetian-Pontine community (today surviving only in some peripheral boroughs). The edifices and the monuments, mainly in rationalist style, were designed by famous architects and artists such as Marcello Piacentini, Angiolo Mazzoni and Duilio Cambellotti. In 1934 it became a provincial capital and, after World War II, renamed Latina in 1946. The city coat of arms is a blue shield with a stylized drawing of the City Hall Clock Tower in the middle, standing on a field of green, and flanked by two stalks of wheat tied at the base with a red ribbon engraved with the motto "LATINA OLIM PALUS" ("Latina, once a swamp") in Latin.