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Borgo Vecchio (Rome)

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Borgo Vecchio
Partial view of the north side of the road: the building in background on the far left is the Palazzo dei Convertendi
Former name(s)Via Sancta
Carriera Sancta
Carriera Martyrum
Width6.90 m
LocationRome, Italy
QuarterBorgo
East endPiazza Pia
West endPiazza Rusticucci
Construction
Demolished1936–1940

Borgo Vecchio,also named in theMiddle AgesVia Sancta,Carriera Sancta(both "Holy road" ) orCarriera Martyrum( "Martyrs road" ), was a road in the city of Rome, Italy, important for historical and architectural reasons. The road was destroyed together with the adjacent quartier in 1936–37 due to the construction ofVia della Conciliazione.

Location

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Borgo in 1779 (Map printed by Monaldini).Borgo Vecchiois the second road from the south among the seven that radiate from the Castle.

Located in theBorgorione,the road stretched roughly in the east–west direction, betweenPiazza Pia,which marked the entrance of the Borgo near the right bank of theTiber,andPiazza Rusticucci,which until its demolition was the vestibule ofSaint Peter's Square.[1] At about two thirds of its length, Borgo Vecchio crossedPiazza Scossacavalli,the center of the rione.[2] Together with the nearby road ofBorgo Nuovo,completed in 1499, Borgo Vecchio delimited the so-calledspina(the name derives from its resemblance with themedian stripof aRoman circus), composed of several blocks elongated in an east west direction betweenCastel Sant'AngeloandSt. Peter's Basilica.[3][1]

Denominations

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During the Middle Ages the road was calledVia Sancta[4]or also, with a term of French origin,Carriera Sancta[5]andCarriera Martyrum,because of themartyrswho went to die inCircus of Nero.[5][6]The nameBorgo Vecchiodates back to after 1570, by analogy with the nearby Borgo Nuovo.[7]In fact from that period was so renamed theVia Alessandrinain Borgo; this was due to the opening of anotherVia Alessandrinain the city:[7]the new road, lying inrione Monti,was so named after its promoter, cardinalMichele Bonelli,nicknamed "Cardinale Alessandrino" fromhis city of origininPiedmont.[7]

History

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Roman age and Middle Ages

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During theRoman Agea road, thevia Cornelia,run through theAger Vaticanusregion in east–west direction. It is disputed among the scholars whether this road followed the same path as the future Borgo Vecchio road,[8]or ran north of it, just in the middle of thespina.[9]

Since the earlyMiddle Agesmany sources – starting in the 6th century withProcopius[10]and ending in the 13th century with the author of the Life ofCola di Rienzo[11]– mention a covered passage, theportica,erected to protect from sun and rain the pilgrims going to St. Peter and coming from the city throughPonte Sant'Angelo.These, after entering a gate (later named Porta Castello) could walk through the Borgo of theSaxons(today's Borgo S. Spirito) or run under thePorticaorPorticus(named alsoPorticus Sancti Petri). It is probable that the portico was a path of Roman origin, thePorticus Maior,which had two arches at its ends.[5]According to several scholars, the portico would have been located roughly in the center of today's Via della Conciliazione; according to others, however, it would have had the same layout as the future Borgo Vecchio.[5]An indication in favor of the last hypothesis is Borgo Vecchio's width, which was almost everywhere constant with a value of 6.90 metres (22.6 ft).[12]However, despite the many accounts, during the demolition works for the construction of Via della Conciliazione nothing was found hinting to the existence of a covered passage.[8]It is then possible that asPorticawas meant the succession of house porches, a common feature in Roman medieval architecture, which allowed the pilgrims to reach Saint Peter from Ponte Sant'Angelo without walking on open air.[8]

The popes always took great care of this path;Adrian I(r. 772–95) had more than 12,000 blocks oftufaextracted from theTiber,widening and repairing the road;Paschal I(r. 817–24) andLeo IV(r. 847–55) carried out restorations after the two terrible fires that devastated Borgo;Innocent II(r. 1130–43) renewed thetileroofing of the road.[13]

During theAvignon Papacythe flow of pilgrims to Rome fainted causing Rome and the Borgo to decay. Assuming that the Portica existed, it should have collapsed during this period, and was never restored, since the popes understood well that any covered passage could have been a precious shelter for enemies trying to assault the castle and to reach the bridge.[13]In its place appears in the sources the street calledVia Sancta[4]or also, with a term of French origin,Carriera Sancta[5]andCarriera Martyrum.[5][6]

Until the begin of theRenaissanceBorgo Vecchio and Borgo Santo Spirito were the only roads which allowed pilgrims coming from the left bank to reach Saint Peter.[5]

Renaissance

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Rome at the end of the 15th century according toSchedel:Borgo Vecchio is the road between the Castle and Saint Peter left of the pyramid calledMeta Romuli
Palazzo Cesi in its original form with 12 windows and the angular tower facing Borgo Vecchio, around 1900

In the late 15th century, after the beginning of the Renaissance, two other roads leading to Saint Peter from Ponte Sant'Angelo were built: Borgo Sant'Angelo, also known asVia SistinaafterPope Sixtus IV(r. 1471–84), running just south of thePassetto(the covered passage linking Vatican with the Castle),[14]and Borgo Nuovo, also known asVia Alessandrina,afterPope Alexander VIBorgia(r. 1492–1503), who erected it.[15]The construction of these two roads solved the traffic problems between the city and Saint Peter, causing in turn the neglection of Borgo Vecchio, which was relegated to the role of a local road.[16] The street, however, was bricked up in 1474 by Sixtus IV.[17]

Due to its diminished importance, the road was less touched than the nearby Borgo Nuovo by the building flurry during thehigh Renaissance:however, some new buildings were erected in that period also there.[18]

In front of the church ofSanta Maria in Traspontina,Antonio da Sangallo the youngererected between Borgo Vecchio and Borgo Nuovo thePalazzo delle Prigioni di Borgo,originally designed as home ofProtonotary apostolicGiovanni dal Pozzo, and later converted into jail.[19]The palace was demolished in 1937, but its portal was reused in a new building erected byMarcello Piacentiniat Via della Conciliazione n 15.[20]

Another important building was apalazzettoat n. 121–22 erected byPope Gregory XIII(r. 1572–85) as a residence for the staff of theHospital of Santo Spirito in Sassia;it had arusticatedground floor, windows on thepiano nobilewith alternate triangular and curvedtympanumsand an archedattic.[21]It was restored and doubled in 1789 byGiuseppe Valadieron the initiative ofMonsignorFrancesco Albizzi,precettoreof the hospital.[21]The building until its demolition showed above the two doors thecoats of armsof Albizzi and the Pope.[18]Its lines (but not the coats of arms) were reproduced in the 4–storey building located at Via della Conciliazione n. 7 at the corner with Via dell'Ospedale.[21]

Not far frompiazza Scossacavalli,on the right side of the road, lay theoratoryofSan Sebastianoa Scossacavalli,[18]a dependency of the nearby church ofSan Giacomo,whose construction began in 1600 and whose façade remained unfinished.[22]

Behind San Sebastiano the road led to Piazza Scossacavalli, whose southern side hostedthe palazzoerected byBaccio Pontellion behalf of CardinalDomenico della Rovere,nephew of Sixtus IV, now part of the south side of Via della Conciliazione.[22]The house between Borgo Vecchio and the southwest corner of the piazza hosted in the 15th century two deposed queens:Catherine of Bosnia,which lived there in 1477–78,[23]andCharlotte of Cyprus.[24]

Proceeding further towards Saint Peter, it lay the house of Gaspare Torello,archiaterofPope Alexander VI.[25]At this point, on the south side of the road, in 1565 was built thePalazzo Serristori.[26]

Further west, on the north side, theCybo,a noble family which reached the papal seat withPope Innocent VIII(r. 1484–92), erected their houses at the end of the 15th century. In front of themFrancesco Armellini Medici,cardinal ofSan Callisto,let buildits palace,[27]which was later bought by the Cesi family. This palace, rebuilt in 1575 byMartino Longhi the Elder,[26]still exists, although mutilated, along Via della Conciliazione.[28]

The last buildings on the south side of the road before its end on piazza Rusticucci were the church ofSan Lorenzo in Piscibus( "St. Lawrence in the fish market", still existing, although stripped of its baroque superstructures and decorations and hidden in the yard of the southernpropylaeaofSaint Peter's Square)[29][30]and thePalazzo Alicorni,a severe Renaissance palace demolished in 1931 to delimit the border ofVatican Cityafter the signing of theLateran treaties.[27]Named at the beginning of 19th centuryPalazzo della Gran Guardia(ordella Guardia Reale) after the Guard which mounted daily to protect the pope when he was in theVatican Palace,the edifice has been rebuilt along Borgo Santo Spirito 10 years after his demolition.[27]

Baroque and Modern Age

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Piazza Scossacavalliand the Borgo Vecchio towards east during theTiberflood of 15 February 1915

Around 1660, during the reign ofPope Alexander VII(r. 1655–67), after the construction ofthe colonnade of Bernini,the first block of thespinabetween Borgo Vecchio and Borgo Nuovo towards St. Peter, namedisola del Prioratoafter the building hosting thePrioryof theKnights of Rhodes,[31]was pulled down in order to create a space–the Piazza Rusticucci–which allowed the full view of Saint Peter's dome, hidden by thenaveof Maderno.[32]In this way Borgo Vecchio was deprived of its western end.

At the beginning of the 19th century, when Rome was part of theFirst French Empire,the prefect of the city,de Tournon,started the demolition of thespina.Anyway, at the fall of Napoleon only the first house at the east end of the road had been demolished,[32]and after the return of the Pope the previous situation was restored.

At the east end of thespinabetween Borgo Vecchio and Borgo Nuovo, in 1850 a new building, palazzo Sauve, was erected;[33]this replaced a house which had been pulled down during theRoman Republic of 1849.[33] On the east façade of the building a large fountain, theFontana dei Delfini( "Dolphins' Fountain" ) was erected byPope Pius IX(r. 1846–78) in 1861, marking the beginning of the "spina".[34]The palace was demolished in 1936 and the fountain was moved to the Vatican City in 1958.[34][33]

In 1858 at the beginning of the Borghi Pius IX let build byLuigi Polettitwo twin buildings that–together with the dolphins' fountain–provided a scenic entrance to theLeonine city.[34] They have the same lateneoclassicalstyle as theManifattura dei Tabacchi( "Tobaccos factory" ) in piazza Mastai inTrastevere,[34] erected byAntonio Sartia few years later.[35]The southern one lay between the south side of Borgo Vecchio and Borgo Santo Spirito.[34]

In 1867, a bomb placed in thePalazzo Serristori(at that time a barrack of the pontifical army) in Borgo Vecchio killed manyzuavi(papal soldiers).[36]The perpetrators, Giuseppe Monti and Gaetano Tognetti, two Romans seeking the unification of their city with theKingdom of Italy,were hanged.[36]

During the 19th century, several buildings of the eastern part of the street until Piazza Scossacavalli underwent restructuring, while the western part could keep its character.[37]At the eve of its disappearance, Borgo Vecchio was a quiet and secluded quarter road, lacking the artistic buildings and the shops of the nearby Borgo Nuovo.[16]

Demolition

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The central part of Borgo with thespinadelimited by Borgo Vecchio and Borgo Nuovo in Rome's map ofGiambattista Nolli(1748)

Between 1934 and 1936, when the project of Via della Conciliazione was developed, the architectsMarcello Piacentiniand Attilio Spaccarelli chose to give to the new road the alignment of Borgo Vecchio, and not of the nearby Borgo Nuovo,[38]which had been aligned between the now disappeared tower of Alexander VI near the Ponte Sant'Angelo and the bronze gate of the Vatican, and had a slope of 6 degrees with respect to the old Saint Peter.[39]This resolution, taken because of reasons ofperspectiveand to avoid the demolition of thePalazzo dei Penitenzieri,[40]facing the south side of Piazza Scossacavalli and parallel to the south side of Borgo Vecchio, allowed for survival some among the road's main buildings, such as thepalazziCesi-Armellini(although mutilated) andSerristori.[28]Due to that, while thespina,with the whole north side of Borgo Vecchio, was demolished between 29 October 1936 and 8 October 1937,[41]the south side of the road partially exists still today, although in a totally different context.[28]

Notable Buildings and landmarks

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The east entrance to Borgo in the 1930s. Borgo Vecchio is the road left ofPalazzo Sauve,the building adorned with the wall fountain

References

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  1. ^abDelli 1988,p. 199.
  2. ^Cambedda 1990,p. 47.
  3. ^Delli 1988,p. 194.
  4. ^abBorgatti 1926,p. 291.
  5. ^abcdefgGigli 1990,p. 20.
  6. ^abCastagnoli et al. 1958,p. 363.
  7. ^abcDelli 1988,p. 193.
  8. ^abcCastagnoli et al. 1958,p. 241.
  9. ^Gigli 1990,p. 9.
  10. ^Borgatti 1926,p. 59.
  11. ^Borgatti 1926,p. 60.
  12. ^Borgatti 1926,p. 61.
  13. ^abGigli 1990,p. 21.
  14. ^Gigli 1990,p. 22.
  15. ^Gigli 1990,p. 25.
  16. ^abCambedda 1990,p. 61-2.
  17. ^Gnoli 1939,p. 40,sub voce.
  18. ^abcBorgatti 1926,p. 159.
  19. ^Cambedda 1990,p. 58.
  20. ^Gigli 1990,p. 130.
  21. ^abcGigli 1990,p. 88.
  22. ^abGigli 1992,p. 18.
  23. ^Borgatti 1926,p. 162.
  24. ^Borgatti 1926,p. 163.
  25. ^Borgatti 1926,p. 164.
  26. ^abCastagnoli et al. 1958,p. 419.
  27. ^abcBorgatti 1926,p. 165.
  28. ^abcBenevolo 2004,p. 86.
  29. ^Gigli 1992,p. 136.
  30. ^Gigli 1992,p. 138.
  31. ^Gigli 1992,p. 154.
  32. ^abGigli 1990,p. 31.
  33. ^abcGigli 1990,p. 84.
  34. ^abcdeGigli 1990,p. 72.
  35. ^Delli 1988,p. 604.
  36. ^abGigli 1992,p. 102.
  37. ^Cambedda 1990,p. 57.
  38. ^Gigli 1990,p. 78.
  39. ^Benevolo 2004,p. 31.
  40. ^Gigli 1992,p. 74-78.
  41. ^Gigli 1990,p. 33.

Sources

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  • Borgatti, Mariano (1926).Borgo e S. Pietro nel 1300 - 1600 - 1925(in Italian). Roma: Federico Pustet.
  • Ceccarelli, Giuseppe (Ceccarius) (1938).La "Spina" dei Borghi(in Italian). Roma: Danesi.
  • Gnoli, Umberto (1939).Topografia e toponomastica di Roma medioevale e moderna(in Italian). Roma: Staderini.
  • Castagnoli, Ferdinando; Cecchelli, Carlo; Giovannoni, Gustavo; Zocca, Mario (1958).Topografia e urbanistica di Roma(in Italian). Bologna: Cappelli.
  • Delli, Sergio (1988).Le strade di Roma(in Italian). Roma: Newton & Compton.
  • Gigli, Laura (1990).Guide rionali di Roma(in Italian). Vol. Borgo (I). Fratelli Palombi Editori, Roma.ISSN0393-2710.
  • Gigli, Laura (1992).Guide rionali di Roma(in Italian). Vol. Borgo (II). Fratelli Palombi Editori, Roma.ISSN0393-2710.
  • Cambedda, Anna (1990).La demolizione della Spina dei Borghi(in Italian). Fratelli Palombi Editori, Roma.
  • Benevolo, Leonardo (2004).San Pietro e la città di Roma(in Italian). Laterza, Bari.ISBN8842072362.

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