Piazza dell'Indipendenza (Independence Square) in Rome is a square in Municipio V (the 5th municipality) of the Castro Pretorio district of the Italian capital city. It is situated between Via Solferino and Via San Martino della Battaglia.
 View of the square (1970) | |
 Click on the map for a fullscreen view | |
| Location | Rome, Italy |
|---|---|
| Postal code | 00185 |
| Coordinates | 41°54′16″N 12°30′09″E / 41.904377°N 12.502469°E |
| Major junctions | Via Solferino & Via San Martino della Battaglia |
| Construction | |
| Construction start | 1872 |
History
editAfter the annexation of Rome by the Kingdom of Italy, in 1871, work began on the construction of a new district at the Castro Pretorio. The first settlement was built for the nobility and the upper middle class that had migrated to Rome to serve in a political office or the Royal Court, while Esquilino, also under construction, was intended for the clerical and petty bourgeois classes. The new quarter was built around a square that would function as the center of the new area. In 1872, it was decided to name it Independence Square, honoring the Italian War of Independence.[1] The new square rose roughly where in Ancient Rome stood Campus Scelleratus, the place where the Vestali (the Vestal Virgins) who violated their virginity vows were buried alive.[2]
By 1872, the square was already called "the new quarter" in travel books.[3]
Notable sights
editThe Palazzo dei Marescialli (the Marshalls Palace), built in 1937 by Costantino Costantini, houses the Consiglio Superiore della Magistratura (the High Council of the Judiciary). In 1979, a bomb was placed in a car near the building by members of the far-right terrorist organization Movimento Rivoluzionario Popolare (Revolutionary Popular Movement) but it malfunctioned and failed to explode.[4]
References
edit- ^ "Piazza dell'Indipendenza" (in Italian). Rerum Romanarum. 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
- ^ Ball Platner, Samuel; Ashby, Thomas (1929) [1909]. A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.
- ^ "Latest Corrections and Additions". A Handbook of Rome and its Environs (12th ed.). London, England: John Murray. 1875 [1867]. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
- ^ Casillo, Giuseppe (2012). A destra della destra: Terza Posizione [To the right of the right: Third Position] (Thesis) (in Italian). Universitá degli Studi del Molise.
Further reading
edit- Staples, Ariadne (1998). From Good Goddess to Vestal Virgins: Sex and Category in Roman Religion (1st ed.). Routledge. ISBN 978-0415132336.
- Wawro, Geoffrey (2010). The Austro-Prussian War: Austria's War with Prussia and Italy in 1866. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521629515.
- Gatje, Robert F. (2010). Great Public Squares: An Architect's Selection. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0393731736.