Cycling through the cycle paths of Rome – 10th episode

Play Video about Cristina Galardini At the Trevi Fountain in Rome

Pedaling through the cycle paths of Rome – Cristina Galardini’s Vlog.

As always, if you haven’t seen the previous episode, here’s the link.

Today’s route will make us discover one of the most famous fountains in the world and the most important palace in Italy.

We start along the Termini railway station. is the main railway station of the city of Rome, the largest in Italy (followed by Milano Centrale and Torino Porta Nuova) and the fifth in Europe for passenger traffic. The first station was built in 1862 and opened to the public on 25 February 1863 with the name of Central Station of the Roman Railways. 

After the opening of the first two railway lines of the Papal States, the Roma Frascati of 1856 and the Roma Civitavecchia 1859 posed the problem of giving an arrangement to the railway junction of Roma.

Could be better a main station or a station for each line? Under pressure from Monsignor De Merode, who had real estate interests in the area of Via Nazionale, the first hypothesis prevailed and for the new station the area of Termini was identified.

Piazza della Repubblica, formerly known as Piazza dell’Esedra or simply Piazza Esedra, from the square begins one of the fundamental streets of the quadrant: Via Nazionale The first name of the square originates from the great Esedra of the Roman baths, whose perimeter is traced by the semicircular colonnade that surrounds the square. 

The porticoes that embellish the square were built in memory of the ancient buildings that stood there: the porticoed palaces, dating from 1887-1898 built by Gaetano Koch. 

On the square there is the basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri, obtained from a wing of the Roman imperial baths: Michelangelo derived from the tepidarium a wing for the large Greek cross church. After the transfer from Florence to Rome, the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, Via Nazionale connect Termini station to the business center.

It had been traced following the path of the Roman Vicus Longus, along the valley of San Vitale, through a very little area inhabited, and whose land had been purchased by Monsignor de Mérode precisely in anticipation of this use.

The first urbanized roads in this area were Via Torino, Via Firenze, Via Napoli and Via Modena, and for this area the new City of Rome adopted, in March 1871, the building convention already stipulated between the Papal States and De Mérode.

The urbanization of this area was therefore the subject of the first urban convention approved in Rome by the new Savoy State. The first part of today’s Via Nazionale, urbanized by de Mérode, was called “Strada Nuova Pia” (The historic “Via Pia” was the current Via XX Settembre, rebuilt and enlarged by Pio IV to create a scenographic perspective between Porta Pia and the papal residence of the Palazzo del Quirinale).

From the initial design, Via Nazionale was designed as a very wide artery, necessary to create a straight connection possible between the central station of the capital and the Tevere, beyond which it was planned, since 1873, the intensive urbanization of the “Prati di Castello”.

This intention was put into practice in 1886, with the resolution of a second large route between Piazza Venezia and the river, which became the Corso Vittorio Emanuele II.

Quirinale Palace, also known in the Savoy period as Reggia del Quirinale and under the Popes as Apostolic Palace of the Quirinale or Papal Palace of the Quirinale, is an historical palace of Rome, placed on the homonymous hill and overlooking the homonymous square; Since 1870 the official residence of the King of Italy and since 1946 of the President of the Italian Republic, it is one of the symbols of the Italian State.

Built from 1573, it is one of the most important palaces of the capital, from the artistic and the political point of view. Following an extraordinary year for our country, we must be proud of our Italian inventor Marco Mazza and his patent: “Here I am on board the Wellnees bike Pmzero.”

The Palace was established, especially since the pontificate of Paul V Borghese, as a permanent residence of the popes erected in fact initially as the summer residence of the Roman Pope, it became an alternative to the Vatican palaces.

With the Quirinal Hill the popes were closer with the seats of the pontifical congregations in which the Curia had been reorganized in the last decades of the sixteenth century.

The Quirinal thus became the residence of the Pope in his capacity as sovereign, complementary to the Vatican, which constituted the seat of the bishop Pope. The Quirinale developed as a secular palace, almost without visible religious symbols and above all without a church open to the public.

Interested in a project that wanted the Napoleonic residence in the time of the French occupation of Rome after 1870 became the royal palace of the kings of Italy.

With the proclamation of the Italian Republic, following the institutional referendum June 2nd 1946, the building became the seat of the President of the Republic. The Trevi Fountain is the largest of the famous fountains in Rome.

Built in front of Palazzo Poli by Nicola Salvi, the competition launched by Pope Clemente XII in 1731 was initially won by the French sculptor Lambert-Sigisbert Adam, but later the assignment passed to Salvi: It is said that the change was because the Pope did not want to entrust the work to a foreigner and another version explains that Adam had to return to France. Begun in 1732, it was finally entrusted in 1759 to Pietro Bracci helped by his son Virginio.

The two completed the work, which was inaugurated in 1762. The theme of the entire fountain is the sea. It is inserted in a large rectangular pool with rounded corners, surrounded by a walkway that runs through it from side to side, enclosed short staircase just below the street level of the square.

Salvi used the staircase system to compensate for the difference in height between the two sides of the square: the left side (the one towards the Quirinal hill) is in fact much higher than the other, it was also necessary to create a short parapet to delimit the road, partially covered by rock. On one of these rock is carved a coat of arms depicting a crawling lion.

Became famous after a movie scene of Federico Fellini “La dolce vita” every year attracts millions and millions of visitors. Legend says that a coin is thrown inside you will come back Roma.

Is it harder to get here to the fountain and take a picture, to the Trevi Fountain, with no one behind it, or to get to the fountain and don’t have a penny to throw in?

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