La Ciociaria is mentioned in Pier Paolo Pasolini's poem: 10 Giugno from 1962, and in the documentary about him. La Ciociaria is not the name of a road, as we discussed in another lesson, but rather the name commonly used, in modern times, for some impoverished territories southeast of Rome, without defined geographical limits. It corresponds, roughly, to the area around Frosinone, to the southeast of Rome. 

Le mattine su Roma,

Sulla Ciociaria, sul mondo

The mornings over Rome

Over the Ciociaria [area near Frosinone], over the world

Captions 10-11, La super storia Via Pasolini - Part 1

 Play Caption

The name ciociaria comes from the kind of humble footwear shepherds would wear, called cioce as seen in this 1883 painting of a shepherd boy wearing cioce by Antonio Mancini. 

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From Wikipedia:

The footwear called ciocie (the singular is ciocia) are made with large leather soles, tied to the leg by straps (strenghe or curiole) bound between the ankle and the knee. Rather than socks, a large piece of loose cloth (pezza, pl. pezze) was placed around the feet, ankles, and calves under the ciocie.

Calling someone un ciociaro or una ciociara was considered derogatory. 

Some might remember the famous 1960 movie with Sophia Loren called La Ciociara. It is based on a 1957 novel by Alberto Moravia.

Here is a short clip from the movie:

There was a remake in 1989 in the form of a TV mini-series. Sophia Loren stars again. 

This is an 1889 painting by Enrique Simonet called Ciociara
 

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