Via Dei Fori Imperiali
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The Via dei Fori Imperiali (formerly ''Via dei Monti'', then ''Via dell'Impero'') is a road in the centre of the city of
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, that runs in a straight line from the
Piazza Venezia Piazza Venezia () is a central hub of Rome, Italy, in which several thoroughfares intersect, including the Via dei Fori Imperiali and the Via del Corso. It takes its name from the Palazzo Venezia, built by the Venetian Cardinal, Pietro Barbo (la ...
to the
Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world to ...
. Its course takes it over parts of the
Forum of Trajan Trajan's Forum ( la, Forum Traiani; it, Foro di Traiano) was the last of the Imperial fora to be constructed in ancient Rome. The architect Apollodorus of Damascus oversaw its construction. History This forum was built on the order of the empe ...
,
Forum of Augustus The Forum of Augustus ( la, Forum Augustum; it, Foro di Augusto) is one of the Imperial fora of Rome, Italy, built by Augustus (). It includes the Temple of Mars Ultor. The incomplete forum and its temple were inaugurated in 2 BC, 40 years after ...
and
Forum of Nerva Forum of Nerva ( it, Foro di Nerva; la, Forum Nervae) is an ancient structure in Rome, Italy, chronologically the next to the last of the Imperial fora built. Forum of Nerva (Forum Transitorium) The Imperial fora within the city of Rome have, ...
, parts of which can be seen on both sides of the road. Since the 1990s, there has been a great deal of archeological excavation on both sides of the road, as significant Imperial Roman relics remain to be found underneath it.


History

In the Roman regulatory plans of 1873, 1883 and 1909 it was planned to open a road between Piazza Venezia and the Colosseum, therefore on the route of the present Via dei Fori Imperiali. The project should be included in the urban planning of the time, which provided for the opening in the city centers of wide connecting roads created by gutting the ancient building fabric. A classic example is the transformation of Paris under the Second Empire, by Napoleon III and the prefect Baron Haussmann, but we can also recall the similar interventions in London (1848-1865), Florence (1859-1865), Vienna (1857) and Brussels (1867-1871). The Via dei Fori Imperiali was finally built under
Fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...
, in the period between 1924 and 1932. The tentative name of the road during its construction was ''Via dei Monti'', but was named ''Via dell'Impero'' when it was inaugurated. Mussolini, on horseback, cut the ribbon opening the road on 9 April 1932 and led a military parade with veterans of
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. After the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the road was renamed to its present name. Each year on 2 June it hosts a parade in celebration of the founding of the modern Italian Republic. On 3 August 2013, the south part of the road, between Largo Corrado Ricci and the Colosseum, was closed to private traffic, while bus and taxi are still allowed to use it.


Road construction

The road was a celebration of the glories of ancient Rome, because its construction has rediscovered and made visible the
Imperial fora The Imperial Fora (''Fori Imperiali '' in Italian) are a series of monumental '' fora'' (public squares), constructed in Rome over a period of one and a half centuries, between 46 BC and 113 AD. The fora were the center of the Roman Republic and ...
: the demolitions served to rediscover the forums of
Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...
,
Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
,
Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caes ...
,
Nerva Nerva (; originally Marcus Cocceius Nerva; 8 November 30 – 27 January 98) was Roman emperor from 96 to 98. Nerva became emperor when aged almost 66, after a lifetime of imperial service under Nero and the succeeding rulers of the Flavian dy ...
and
Trajan's Market Trajan's Market (; ) is a large complex of ruins in the city of Rome, Italy, located on the Via dei Fori Imperiali, at the opposite end to the Colosseum. The surviving buildings and structures, built as an integral part of Trajan's Forum and ne ...
, previously hidden under the demolished buildings. Its construction, however, entailed the systematic demolition of over 40,000 square yards of one of the most densely populated areas of Rome, obliterating medieval and Renaissance structures, including five little churches and popular tenements that housed 746 of Rome's poorest families. These include: *The de-consecration and stripping of the ''Church of Sant'Adriano in Curia Senatus'' (built on the
Curia Julia The Curia Julia ( la, Curia Iulia, links=no, it, Curia Iulia, links=no) is the third named ''curia'', or senate house, in the ancient city of Rome. It was built in 44 BC, when Julius Caesar replaced Faustus Cornelius Sulla's reconstructed Curia ...
) in the Roman Forum, to reveal the building of the senate; *Demolition of the 17th century ''Convent of the Mercedari'', annexed to the Church of Sant'Adriano; *Excavation and removal of a large part of the Velia, the hill on which the Basilica of Constantine (also known as the
Basilica of Maxentius The Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine ( it, Basilica di Massenzio), sometimes known as the Basilica Nova—meaning "new basilica"—or Basilica of Maxentius, is an ancient building in the Roman Forum, Rome, Italy. It was the largest building ...
) stands, halfway between the Colosseum and Piazza Venezia; *Destruction of the ''monastery of Sant'Urbano ai Pantani'' and the nearby ''convent of Sant'Eufemia''; *Destruction of the neighbourhood of ''Via Alessandrina'', which included the house of famous 19th century antiquarian Francesco Martinetti, collector, restorer and numismatics expert – itself a treasure trove; *Excavation and covering of the gardens of the 16th century ''Villa Rivaldi'' and its
nymphaeum A ''nymphaeum'' or ''nymphaion'' ( grc, νυμφαῖον), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs. These monuments were originally natural grottoes, which tradition assigned as habit ...
s; *Loss of several notable houses including ''Casa Desideri'', ''Casa Ciacci'', ''Casa Cetorelli'' and ''Casa De Rossi''; *Demolition of the churches of ''San Lorenzo ai Monti'' and ''Santa Maria degli Angeli in Macello Martyrum''. Of the areas excavated, a great deal of data has been lost. Records at the
Musei Capitolini The Capitoline Museums (Italian: ''Musei Capitolini'') are a group of art and archaeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The historic seats of the museums are Palazzo dei Conservatori and Palazz ...
noted that many of the objects found were stored in crates in the vaults of Museo della Civiltà Romana, but little associated data was recorded about the exact location and context of the objects, meaning that huge amounts of information that could be inferred is now irrecoverable. The ''Via dei Fori Imperiali'' completely changed the landscape and character of a part of Rome: before its construction, the
Colosseum The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world to ...
was not visible from Piazza Venezia and the imperial fora were hidden by a popular quarter of the fifteenth century. There is a debate about the future of the road, for some to be dismantled, for others one of the most spectacular in Rome.


Road traffic

The four-lane, heavily trafficked road carried an extremely heavy load of motor vehicle traffic straight through the Roman Forum area, whose exhaust fumes and vibrations continue to damage the surrounding ancient Roman monuments. After numerous failed efforts by academics and citizen's groups to pressure the Roman city government to close the road to traffic, the Mayor of Rome
Ignazio Marino Ignazio Roberto Maria Marino (; born 10 March 1955) is an Italian transplant surgeon who was Mayor of Rome from 2013 to 2015. As a surgeon, he trained with Thomas Starzl, who had pioneered liver transplantion in humans. In 1992–1993, as ...
closed the southern part of the road to private motor vehicles on 3 August 2013.


Sources

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References


External links

* {{Authority control Italian fascist architecture Imperial forums of Rome Fori Imperiali Fori Imperiali