30/12/2024
For those who are wondering if Rome can deal with the flows of pilgrims during 2025 Jubilee, we would like to share some information.
The Eternal City is visited by millions of tourists every year, so what is on progress with the Jubilee is something that Rome and the Romans are used to, from centuries.
On the other hand, the critical moment that affected the whole city due to several construction and restoration sites, especially during 2024, is finally over, and the city had been returned to us with plenty of new pedestrian areas and restored fountains and palaces.
1 - Via Ottaviano and Piazza Risorgimento
Pedestrian Area To The Vatican
Via Ottaviano has been totally refurbished and it is now restricted to vehicles. The neighborhood is filled with fancy shops and restaurants. From Via Ottaviano to Piazza del Risorgimento and Via di Porta Angelica getting to the Vatican is easier, as it's almost entirely pedestrain area.
2 - Castel Sant'Angelo - Piazza Pia - Via della Conciliazione Pedestrian Area To The Vatican
Piazza Pia is a brand new "piazza". So brand new that Google Maps is not updated yet.
The picture above is a project rendering, the actual piazza is even prettier, with two circular fountains and dozens of trees.
Basically, where now is the piazza, there was a very busy street, on which 3.000 cars/hour went by. A brand new tunnel has been made, and... as usual, during the escavation, they found some Roman ruins, a wash house, which dates back to II-III century AD. And that slowed the construction a bit.
Now the piazza offers an amazing view both to Castel Sant'Angelo and St Peter's Square.
3 - Passetto di Borgo - Finally Reopened To Travelers
After more than a decade of restoration, finally becomes available for travelers the site of Passetto di Borgo. Approaching St.Peter’s Square it is impossible not to notice a long wall, about 25-30 feet tall, which runs parallel to the colonnade. It looks like a fortification, similar to the ones built in ancient times to protect cities boundaries. The wall conceils a walkable gallery, leading to Castel Sant’Angelo. This covered corridor served as a hidden escape route from the Vatican to Castel Sant’Angelo when Popes were in danger. The Passetto played a key role in the Dan Brown's novel Angels & Demons.
The site will be included in our tours, 1-hour or 3-hour tour (the latter includes the Castle as well).
4 - Trevi, Four Rivers and Pantheon Fountains - 55 FOUNTAINS IN TOTAL HAD BEEN RESTORED
The three fountains mentioned above are the most renowned among tourists. Of course Rome has hundreds of fountains, 55 of which had undergone to restoration works. Almost all of them are ready.
TREVI FOUNTAIN deserves a note: you may have heard that now are new rules to access to the - small - square that hosts the fountain. The most relevant one is that now are allowed max 400 visitors at the same time.
5 - Subway Line C Construction Sites - Colosseo and Piazza Venezia
While most of the construction site in front of the Colosseum and Roman Forum had been removed, the one in Piazza Venezia has just begun last year. It will take almost 10 years before having back one of the largest and most loved square in Rome. But it will be worth to wait, as basically it will be a metro stop and an archeological museum.
Colosseum station is foreseen to open on September 2025.
Just a metro stop from the Colosseum, on Line C, will be also opened Porta Metronia, which is already described as an "archeostation", as a Roman barracks (II century AD) has been discovered during the escavation. That's the perfect example why building or restoring Rome is so difficult. But this another episode of Rome's long history
