Risorgimento Rome I: San Paolo entro le Mura

An unlikely glimpse of Victorian England on via Nazionale

As ever all photographs are my own, and taken this month unless otherwise stated.

Much is spoken of Rome’s multiple layers of history. Republic, Empire, and Renaissance perhaps get the most attention, and with good reason. But there’s another facet to the city of which every visitor is undoubtedly aware but which is largely overlooked: any road in the city centre wide enough for a bus probably dates to the late nineteenth century. Though undoubtedly infinitely less appealing than the maze of cobbled streets, these thoroughfares also tell us something of Rome. So this is the first of an occasional series looking at Rome as the new capital of Italy, established in 1870. One of these roads is via Nazionale.

St Paul inside the Walls (San Paolo entro le Mura). February 2022

Near the top of via Nazionale lurks a curious piece of Victoriana, and the first non-Catholic church built in Rome following the fall of papal power in the city in 1870. In it are Pre-Raphaelite mosaics which include portraits of JP Morgan’s father, Garibaldi, and Abraham Lincoln. It’s an intriguingly eclectic place.