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Piazza dell'Indipendenza (Rome)

Coordinates: 41°54′16″N 12°30′09″E / 41.904377°N 12.502469°E / 41.904377; 12.502469
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Piazza dell'Indipendenza
View of the square (1970)
Map
Click on the map for a fullscreen view
LocationRome, Italy
Postal code00185
Coordinates41°54′16″N 12°30′09″E / 41.904377°N 12.502469°E / 41.904377; 12.502469
Major
junctions
Via Solferino &
Via San Martino della Battaglia
Construction
Construction start1872

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.

History

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After 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

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The 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

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  1. ^ "Piazza dell'Indipendenza" (in Italian). Rerum Romanarum. 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2020.
  2. ^ Ball Platner, Samuel; Ashby, Thomas (1929) [1909]. A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.
  3. ^ "Latest Corrections and Additions". A Handbook of Rome and its Environs (12th ed.). London, England: John Murray. 1875 [1867]. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  4. ^ 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

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