Reconstructing the Eternal City

Anyone who decided to visit the city of Rome in the past year may have left the city feeling a little disappointed, and understandably so. The beautiful sceneries, buildings and historic sites seemed to have disappeared under a big building site as the city had been preparing for 2025, the Giubileo. The Giubileo is the holy year, declared by the pope, and marks each 25 anniversary of the catholic church. During this year the catholic church is celebrated and many churches, including the St. Peter’s Basilica, open their ‘holy doors’ to the public. While it is usual that the Giubileo is every 25 years, the Pope has the ability to declare a ‘Holy Year’ whenever he sees fit. The last jubilee year was from 2015 to 2016. It is expected that about 25 to 30 million pilgrims will visit the city during the year, often so they can obtain special indulgences and seek forgiveness for their sins. This will be an exciting and very busy year for the city, as it is already one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe.

But why renovate almost the entire city now? Every building and site, new or ancient, will eventually need some maintenance in order to keep up with the world and its users. In Italy they seem to have a habit of postponing their maintenance for a lot of these sites, mostly fountains and historic buildings, but also their parks and public transport system. The renovations of the many historic sites and monuments were in some cases long overdue, but the upcoming jubilee year was a reason to finally get a start on them. The renovations were considered needed for the jubilee year, mostly in order for the city to be capable of dealing with the enormous influx of tourists and pilgrims that is expected. Of course, the Vatican also wishes for the city to look their best during the jubilee year to satisfy the many visitors.

The Italian state seemed to be determined to make this one of the most luxurious face lifts the city of Rome has ever seen, as the city had received a fund of around 1.5 billion euros specifically reserved for the jubilee year, as well as almost 3 billion from post-pandemic EU funds. With these funds the city was able to start up about 3200 construction works, which is a record, of which 322 projects are considered essential for the Giubileo. 

The biggest project that took place in the past year was the pedestrianization of Piazza Pia. With this project it is now possible to walk from Castel Sant’Angelo to Via Della Conciliazione, ending in St. Peter’s Square. The 85 million euros that were spent on the pedestrianization were used to make an underpass that linked the square to an already existing underpass, making the piazza traffic-free. There was a small delay during the project, when during the dig they found the ancient ruins of a Roman laundry. But with good planning and a little bit of pressure from the nearing Giubileo it was still possible to finish right on time. The inauguration of the underpass was on the 23rd of December, the day before the Pope opened the doors to St. Peter’s Basilica and started the ‘holy year’ and the ruins will be displayed in the Castel Sant’Angelo. The end of the project was also a big relief to the residents of Rome, who had been following diversions around the area for over a  year.

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Figure 1. Inauguration of the new Piazza Pia.
From “Proger”, 2024 https://www.proger.it/en/inaugurata-la-nuova-piazza-pia/

Another important project was the restoration and cleaning of the Trevi Fountain. The iconic fountain is for many tourists a must-see when visiting Rome, especially with the long standing tradition of tossing a coin in the water to ensure your return to the city. However, this was not exactly possible while renovating the fountain. Illegal even, with the city handing out 50 euro fines to anyone who decided to try and toss a coin in anyway. Trying to find a balance between maintaining the city and caring for tourists, the city decided to add an elevated walkway. From here, tourists were able to admire the fountain and the beautiful statues from up close in a way that would never be possible on a normal day, all the while construction crews were able to fix up any damages that the fountain had endured. During these renovations it was noted that, no matter how amazing it is to have traditions like the coin tossing, they were not the best for the upkeep of the fountain. Each year the city collects about 1.5 million euros in coins from the fountain and while renovating, many people noticed the small dents in the fountain and statues that were caused by the coins. Fortunately, it was possible to fix most of the dents, and it seems unlikely that the tradition will be banned anytime soon.

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Figure 2. Trevi Fountain Renovations in 2024. From “American in Rome”, 2024
https://anamericaninrome.com/2024/11/trevi-fountain-renovations-in-2024/

While a lot of the renovation projects were finished in time for the jubilee year, there are some projects that the city will be enduring for a little while longer. Important for handling a larger influx is a well made infrastructural system and public transport system. While the underpass under Piazza Pia is an important addition that will make the area well accessible for vehicles and pedestrians alike, there are still some issues in public transport in the city. Several trams and buses have been added to the system and metro lines A and B have had updates as well, but metro line C is still under construction. With the rate the constructions are going, it is expected for line C to be under the tarps for about ten years more. To accommodate the constructions, there are still a lot of diversions around the area, making the city far from ‘construction-site’-free during the Giubileo and many years after. By the time all the sites started in the past year have been cleaned up it will be time to prepare for the next jubilee year in 2033, which will mark the 2000 anniversary of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

Literature:
[1] Balmer, C. (2024, 11 juli). Antiquated Rome revamps ahead of expected Jubilee millions. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com
[2] Euronews. (2024, 24 mei). Work on metro line under Rome’s landmarks enters crucial phase. https://www.euronews.com 
[3] Mortensen, A., & Nadeau, B. (2024, 24 november). Tourists get a bird’s eye view of Trevi Fountain during restoration works. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com 
[4] Mortensen, A., Lamb, C., & Gentille, A. (2024, 11 december). Renovations have left Rome in chaos. Now 35 million visitors are about to descend. CNN. https://edition.cnn.com 
[5] Natalie. (2024, 18 november). Trevi Fountain Renovations in 2024. American in Rome. https://www.americaninrome.com 
[6] Proger. (2024, 23 december). Inauguration of the new Piazza Pia. https://www.proger.it 
[7] Wanted in Rome. (2024a, 30 augustus). Rome’s race against time to finish projects for Jubilee 2025. https://www.wantedinrome.com 
[8] Wanted in Rome. (2024b, juni 15). Discovery of ancient ruins in Rome will not stop Jubilee 2025 tunnel. https://www.wantedinrome.com