Piazza della Repubblica
Encyclopedia
Piazza
A piazza is a city square in Italy, Malta, along the Dalmatian coast and in surrounding regions. The term is roughly equivalent to the Spanish plaza...
in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, at the summit of the Viminal Hill
Viminal Hill
The Viminal Hill is the smallest of the famous seven hills of Rome. A finger-shape cusp pointing toward central Rome between the Quirinal Hill to the northwest and the Esquiline Hill to the southeast, it is home to the Teatro dell'Opera and the Termini Railway Station.At the top of Viminal Hill...
, next to the Termini station. On it is to be found Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri
Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri
The Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and the Martyrs is a titular basilica church in Rome, built inside the frigidarium of the Baths of Diocletian. The Cardinal priest of the is William Henry Keeler.- The basilica :...
. It is served by the Repubblica - Teatro dell'Opera
Repubblica - Teatro dell'Opera (Rome Metro)
Repubblica - Teatro dell'Opera is an underground station on Line A of the Rome Metro. The station was inaugurated in 1980 and takes its name from the Piazza della Repubblica underneath which it lies.-Located nearby:* Piazza della Repubblica...
Metro
Rome Metro
The Rome Metro is an underground public transportation system that operates in Rome, Italy and opened in 1955. There are currently two metro lines, the A line and the B line . A third line, the green C line, and a new branch of the B line, are currently under construction. Plans have also been...
station.
The former name of the piazza, Piazza dell'Esedra, still very common today, originates in the large exedra
Exedra
In architecture, an exedra is a semicircular recess or plinth, often crowned by a semi-dome, which is sometimes set into a building's facade. The original Greek sense was applied to a room that opened onto a stoa, ringed with curved high-backed stone benches, a suitable place for a philosophical...
of the baths of Diocletian
Baths of Diocletian
The Baths of Diocletian in Rome were the grandest of the public baths, or thermae built by successive emperors. Diocletian's Baths, dedicated in 306, were the largest and most sumptuous of the imperial baths. The baths were built between the years 298 AD and 306 AD...
, which gives the piazza its shape. The porticos around the piazza, built in 1887-98 by Gaetano Koch
Gaetano Koch
Gaetano Koch was an Italian architect.He made his name above all with several major works in Rome - Palazzo Koch, seat of the Banca d'Italia, and the two porticoed palazzi which form Piazza della Repubblica, and the central Piazza Vittorio.His mark can also be seen in Rome's Palazzo Mengarini and...
, were in memory of the ancient buildings on the same sites, while the basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri
Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri
The Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and the Martyrs is a titular basilica church in Rome, built inside the frigidarium of the Baths of Diocletian. The Cardinal priest of the is William Henry Keeler.- The basilica :...
on the piazza is based on a wing of the baths (with its architect Michelangelo
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni , commonly known as Michelangelo, was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and engineer who exerted an unparalleled influence on the development of Western art...
, using the tepidarium
Tepidarium
The tepidarium was the warm bathroom of the Roman baths heated by a hypocaust or underfloor heating system.The specialty of a tepidarium is the pleasant feeling of constant radiant heat which directly affects the human body from the walls and floor.There is an interesting example at Pompeii; this...
as one of the wings of its spacious Greek cross plan).
Fountain of the Naiads
The fountain in this square was originally the fountain of the Acqua Pia (connected to the aqua MarciaAqua Marcia
The Aqua Marcia was the longest of the 11 aqueducts that supplied the city of ancient Rome. The still-functioning Acqua Felice from 1586 runs on long stretches along the route of the Aqua Marcia....
aqueduct
Aqueduct
An aqueduct is a water supply or navigable channel constructed to convey water. In modern engineering, the term is used for any system of pipes, ditches, canals, tunnels, and other structures used for this purpose....
), commissioned this site by Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...
in 1870. Completed in 1888, it originally showed four chalk lions designed by Alessandro Guerrieri. These were then replaced in 1901 with sculptures of Naiad
Naiad
In Greek mythology, the Naiads or Naiades were a type of nymph who presided over fountains, wells, springs, streams, and brooks....
s by Mario Rutelli
Mario Rutelli
Mario Rutelli was an Italian sculptor. Studying at the Academy of Fine Arts of Palermo and then in Rome under Giulio Monteverde, his masterwork is the "fontana delle Naiadi" in piazza dell'Esedra in Rome, which Benito Mussolini called "exaltation of eternal youth, the capital's first salute to...
from Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
, the great-grandfather of the politician and former mayor of the town Francesco Rutelli.
The naiads represented are the Nymph of the Lakes (recognisable by the swan she holds), the Nymph of the Rivers (stretched out on a monster of the rivers), the Nymph of the Oceans (riding a horse symbolising of the sea), and the Nymph of the Underground Waters (leaning over a mysterious dragon). In the centre is Rutelli's Glauco
Glaucus
Glaucus is a Greek name. In modern Greek usage, the name is usually transliterated Glafkos. It may refer to:*Glaucus, a sea-god in Greek mythology*Glaucus , a mythical Lycian captain in the Trojan War...
group (1911/12), symbolizing the dominion of the man over natural force and replacing a previous sculpture.