The historic centre of Rome is the area inside the Aurelian Walls, which extend for approximately 18 kilometres. They were built during the second century BC by Lucius Domitius Aurelianus to protect a city which, at the height of its powers, was home to no more than one million inhabitants.
It was inside these walls that Rome was still being built when, in 1870, it became the capital of Italy. During the 1800 years between these two events, the Eternal City at first shrank to only 50,000 inhabitants during the Middle Ages (when the might of imperial Rome almost disappeared), only to rise again when it became a world capital under the Renaissance Popes. It was precisely during this period that the city centre was transformed: by the time Roman baroque arrived during the 18th century, it had become a complex system with splendid buildings and omnifarious styles.
In 1921, when building work began outside the Aurelian Walls, 8 new city Wards were added to the 13 old ones, attesting to the level of development which had come about. Each of these Wards is characterised by numerous churches, buildings, palaces, fountains and obelisks, providing them all with incomparable treasures.
History, art and culture
Via dei Condotti
Founded, according to the most reliable sources, around 753 BC, as a consequence of the fusion between several smaller clusters. The City was born. The very earliest dwellings most likely sprang up around the Palatine Hill; following land reclamation of the widespread marshes surrounding Rome, the City centre was later to be found at the Capitol, around which the Forums would later be built. Etruscan culture, predominant throughout Italy at the time, can be seen right from the very earliest layout of the town; however, with the arrival of the Republic – and later the Empire – Rome was destined to become Caput Mundi. Nowadays, the city is an enormous metropolis and an extremely important centre of modern art. But it is also the indispensable destination for anyone wishing to see and understand more about the origins of Western culture, throughout the ages, because the artistic and historical heritage of more than two thousand years of our history has been jealously guarded and preserved in Rome. Rome is the master of the world, and her modern empire extends far and wide to latitudes unknown in her earliest times. She has given life to a new understanding of the world: no longer isolated, primitive regions, but an entire social and human fabric. Patiently and courageously weaved into the threads radiating out from this unique starting point.
Piazza Navona
A grandiose impression has remained in the minds of anyone and everyone who has walked through the Imperial Forums to the Colosseum, or admired the elegant profile of the Circus Maximus, the Domus Aurea, the Mausoleum of Augustus and Hadrian, the Pantheon, Trajan’s and Marcus Aurelius’s Columns, all symbols of Rome’s imperial greatness. Great works of art were still being made in Rome towards the end of the Empire and during the Middle Ages. Indeed, early Christian churches and the Cosmas mosaics left travellers and pilgrims from all over Europe completely dumbstruck. During Rome’s Papal government, the Roman renaissance saw the arrival of great artists such as Michelangelo, Caravaggio, Bernini and Borromini, whose artistic output was most splendid. It was during this period that the greatest urban renewal took place, with the building of roads, fountains and basilicas. The climax was reached during Sixtus V’s pontificate, and with the completion of Saint Peter’s Square during the papacy of Alexander VII. Between 1700 and 1800 Rome became the final destination on the “grand tour” of the learned and wealthy from around the world, thanks to the presence of so many styles of art and architecture in one place. A few names should suffice to show the importance attributed to Rome by people such as Goethe, Byron, Shelley, Keats, Andersen and Corot.
In 1859, Rome was invaded and became the capital of a new Italy. Right from the start of the 20th century it took on the Neoclassical and Liberty styles which can be admired in the Vittoriano, Piazza del Popolo and Pincio. Now the centre of government, business and power, Rome continues to be admired for the grandiose fascination upon which the sun has still to set, and for the millenary and undying beauty of the churches, palaces and museums which house priceless works of art.
St. Paul-Without-the-Walls
The building of the Basilica was ordered by the Emperor Constantine of the Apostle’s tomb and was initially small and facing towards the Via Ostia. Later on it was enlarged by the Emperors Valentinian II, Theodosius, Honorius and Arcadius. With all this work, it was the largest place of worship throughout Christendom before St. Peter’s was built.
Early plans show that it was similar in size to the Ulpian basilica or hall in the forum built by Trajan, with five aisles separated by 80 columns and a transept its triumphal arch.
Throughout the centuries, no major structural changes were made, the only real work being an enrichment of pre-existing decoration. Unfortunately, the Basilica was almost destroyed by a careless fire in 1823.
Heated debate ensued about whether to rebuild the Basilica as it had been or according to its original plan: this latter course was followed and the project was entrusted to Pasquale Belli. It was brought to completion by Luigi Poletti, who designed the campanile. Vespignani is responsible for starting work on the triumphal arch, which was brought to completion by Calderini. At its centre is the statue of St. Paul by Pietro Canonica.
Further work entailed the complete demolition of many parts of the ancient Basilica, and the loss of the frescoes by Pietro Cavallini.
From the original church, we still have: the splendid mosaics in the apse from the mid-13th century, with Our Lord blessing the Apostles, the marble tabernacle of the confession of Arnolfo del Cambio, the marble Candelabrum for the Paschal Candle by Nicolò di Angelo and Pietro Vassalletto from the 12th century, the cloister from between 1220 and 1241, partly the work of Vassalletto (and thought by many to be one of the most beautiful in the world), the side chapels around the apse by Carlo Maderno from the 17th century and, finally, the 13th century marble triptych from the school of Andrea Bregno.
The Apostolic See
Vatican City
The Lateran Treaties, signed by Italy and the Holy See at St. John Lateran on 11 February 1929, solved the “Roman Question” by granting independence to the Vatican City state.
The Vatican City, home to the reigning Pontiff, contains St. Peter’s Square and the Basilica of St. Peter’s.
The Vatican Museums are home to ancient treasures and modern works of art, in addition to impressive works by such artists as Bramante, Raffaello, Michelangelo and Bernini. The Vatican Museums are a priceless treasure chest, containing: the Vatican Picture Gallery, the Sistine Chapel, Raphael’s rooms and his loggia, the Gregorian Egyptian Museum and the Gregorian Etruscan Museum.
UNESCO INSCRIPTION
Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura
Id. n. 91, 91bis 1980 e 1990 C (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (vi)
Founded, according to legend, by Romulus and Remus in 753 B.C., Rome was first the centre of the Roman Republic, then of the Roman Empire, and it became the capital of the Christian world in the 4th century. The World Heritage site, extended in 1990 to the walls of Urban VIII, includes some of the major monuments of antiquity such as the Forums, the Mausoleum of Augustus, the Mausoleum of Hadrian, the Pantheon, Trajan’s Column and the Column of Marcus Aurelius, as well as the religious and public buildings of papal Rome.
