Italy: Rome to create ‘Baroque-style’ garden on Via Giulia

Rome: Rome mayor Virginia Raggi has announced that works are underway to create a ‘Baroque-style’ garden above the underground car park on Via Giulia, the historic street running parallel to the Tiber.

The green space, which is set to breathe new life into an area that has been abandoned for years, will “heal an open wound in the heart of the city,” said Raggi.

“Everyone will have happened at least once to walk along Via Giulia, one of the most evocative and ancient streets of Rome,” the mayor said.

“The new garden will open onto Via Giulia, offering a panoramic view over the Tiber and towards the Janiculum, with the Botanic Garden in the background.”

Raggi said the car park management company will be responsible for the construction of the perimeter wall and the garden, while the local town hall (Municipio I) will oversee the completion of external works.

“In this way a space left abandoned for a long time will be reborn with trees, flower beds, water tubs full of plants, walls covered with greenery, silence and tranquility” – said Raggi – “Another little jewel in the historic centre of Rome.”

In 1508 Pope Julius II, of the powerful della Rovere family, commissioned Bramante to design Via Giulia, which was named in honour of its patron.

The street became one of the first important urban planning projects in papal Rome during the Renaissance, with palaces and churches built by the most important architects of the time, from Raphael to Antonio da Sangallo the Younger.

It was soon the favoured location for Roman nobles and construction along the street continued during the Baroque era, directed by the most important architects of the age such as Borromini, Carlo Maderno and Giacomo della Porta.