Paolo VI - Case Bianche

The area where Paolo VI is located was known as Le Macchie: a countryside overlooking the Mar Piccolo, characterized by olive groves, myrtle, olive trees, dry stone walls, and farmhouses, including La Vaccarella. The current Viale Cannata coincided with the ancient rural road leading to Monteiasi. In 1968, the first 96 terraced houses were inaugurated, spread over two levels and equipped with front gardens, intended for the workers of the Siderurgico Center. The name of the neighborhood recalls the visit of Pope Paul VI, Giovanni Battista Montini, to Taranto in the same year.

The northern part of the neighborhood includes interventions designed by the Nizzoli and Associates studio, characterized by a rationalist language attentive to the terrain and landscape: the steel structures were designed to preserve, where possible, the existing olive trees and maintain the view towards the Mar Piccolo. The subsequent construction of a large six-lane road has instead accentuated the separation between the northern and southern sectors, where the White Houses and other residential complexes are concentrated.

Among the main places in the neighborhood are the Mirto Park, the Citadel of Charity, started in 1988 at the behest of Monsignor Guglielmo Motolese, the Polytechnic on the northeastern edge, and the Court of Appeal, established in Taranto in 1991 and located along Viale Cannata. The Mar Piccolo Management Center, built in the 1980s, has significantly altered the visual relationship between part of the urban area and the sea.

The White Houses have also been the subject of regeneration initiatives through street art. As part of the Trust project, the mural "Love Stronger than Death" by artist Judith de Leeuw was created, selected among the finalist works of the Street Art Cities – Best Street Art Awards 2022. The intervention is part of actions aimed at Salinella, Paolo VI, and the city center, with the goal of enhancing urban spaces and local identities.