Lungotevere Tor di Nona is the stretch of

Lungotevere Lungotevere (Italian for ''Tiber Waterfront'') is an alley or boulevard running along the river Tiber within the city of Rome. The building of the Lungoteveres required the demolition of the former edifices along the river banks and the constru ...

that connects Piazza di

Ponte Sant'Angelo Ponte Sant'Angelo, originally the Aelian Bridge or Pons Aelius, is a Roman bridge in Rome, Italy, completed in 134 AD by Roman Emperor Hadrian (Publius Aelius Hadrianus), to span the Tiber from the city centre to his newly constructed mauso ...

to Piazza di

Ponte Umberto I Ponte Umberto I, also known as Ponte Umberto, is a bridge that links Piazza di Ponte Umberto I to Piazza dei Tribunali in Rome (Italy), in the rioni Ponte and Prati. Description The bridge was designed by architect Angelo Vescovali and built b ...

in Rome, in the

rione A (; plural: ) is a neighbourhood in several Italian cities. A is a territorial subdivision. The larger administrative subdivisions in Rome are the , with the being used only in the historic centre. The word derives from the Latin , the 14 su ...

Ponte. It was named so following the resolution of the city council of 20 July 1887.

History

Tor di Nona - watercolour by Ettore Roesler Franz

The Lungotevere runs against the Via di

Tor di Nona The Tor di Nona is a neighborhood in Rome's ''rione'' '' Ponte''. It lies in the heart of the city's historic center, between the ''Via dei Coronari'' and the Tiber River. Its name commemorates the Torre dell'Annona, a mediaeval tower which once s ...

, a riverside path already present in the ancient Roman road system. To river activities was clearly tied a more ancient pier-dock built before the construction of the walls, probably destined, in the age of

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...

, to the unloading of marbles for the imperial mausoleum. After the construction of the Aurelian walls along the left bank of the Tiber, in which were opened several '' posterulae'' intended for river traffic, the route followed the walls' path. Roman remains of the pier were still visible at the time of 18th century engraver

Giovanni Battista Piranesi Giovanni Battista (or Giambattista) Piranesi (; also known as simply Piranesi; 4 October 1720 – 9 November 1778) was an Italian Classical archaeologist, architect, and artist, famous for his etchings of Rome and of fictitious and atmospheric " ...

and were well sketched by him, although interpreted as "Remains of the Triumphal Bridge". In the Middle Ages the street was named after the medieval ''Turris de Annona'', a building so named because of its use as grain storeroom: before that, the tower had been a possession of the aristocratic

Orsini family The House of Orsini is an Italian noble family that was one of the most influential princely families in medieval Italy and Renaissance Rome. Members of the Orsini family include five popes: Stephen II (752-757), Paul I (757-767), Celestine II ...

, and was used as prison from the 15th century to 1660. For the construction of the lungotevere most of the ancient street was demolished, including a building initially belonged to the

Farnese family The House of Farnese family (, also , ) was an influential family in Renaissance Italy. The titles of Duke of Parma and Piacenza and Duke of Castro were held by various members of the family. Its most important members included Pope Paul I ...

and, after 1550, to the

Caetani The House of Caetani, or Gaetani, is the name of an Italian noble family, originally from the city of Gaeta, connected by some to the lineage of the lords of the Duchy of Gaeta, as well as to the patrician Gaetani of the Republic of Pisa. It play ...

, where often

Pope Julius III Pope Julius III ( la, Iulius PP. III; it, Giulio III; 10 September 1487 – 23 March 1555), born Giovanni Maria Ciocchi del Monte, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 February 1550 to his death in March 155 ...

lived (the building was leveled to make way for the head of the Umberto I Bridge and the square bearing the same name); of the ancient street have survived some houses, having now the Lungotevere at the height of their first floor. In September 1889 was also demolished the theater Apollo a Tordinona, built in 1670 and designed by

Carlo Fontana Carlo Fontana (1634 or 1638–1714) was an Italian architect originating from today's Canton Ticino, who was in part responsible for the classicizing direction taken by Late Baroque Roman architecture. Biography There seems to be no proof that ...

, who reused the abandoned prison: the building today is remembered by a marble

stele A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

Cesare Bazzani Cesare Bazzani (1873 - 1939) was a prominent and prolific Italian architect and engineer. Active from 1911 until his death in 1939, Bazzani designed major municipal works in several cities. Works * Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale (National L ...

.Rendina-Paradisi (2006), p. 1265

References

Bibliografia

*Lorenzo Bianchi,
Case e torri medioevali a Roma
', L'Erma di Bretschneider, 1998. About Tor di Nona, see chapt. 6 "Un isolato medioevale a Tor di Nona", pp. 343–407. *

External links

{{commons inline, Lungotevere Tor di Nona, Lungotevere Tor di Nona

Streets in Rome R. V Ponte