Via dei Fori Imperiali

Accompanied by two wings of pine trees, the symbolic trees of Rome since antiquity, the wide street that connects Piazza Venezia with the Colosseum takes its current name from the remains of the Imperial Age fora that can be admired as you walk along it.

Inaugurated in October 1932 as Via dell’Impero, the street was part of the program of demolitions and gutting that had changed the face of the papal city since the end of the 19th century and intensified during the Fascist period. Scenic and monumental, the long walkway was functional to the celebrations of the regime; at the same time, the remains of Caesar’s, Augustus’s, Nerva’s and Trajan’s fora brought to light symbolized the rebirth of “Romanity”, a theme dear to fascist ideology. The project to open the new street, however, had more than just an archaeological pretext. Together with the Via del Teatro di Marcello, then Via del Mare, opened on the opposite side of the monument to Victor Emmanuel, the street was in fact supposed to solve the traffic and road problems of the new city, linking the new southern suburbs with the historic center.

For the opening of the new road axis, a populous neighborhood (the quartiere Alessandrino wanted at the end of the 16th century by Cardinal Michele Bonelli) was demolished, full of Renaissance and medieval houses and palaces, churches and monasteries, which were considered of little importance compared to the ancient monuments. A hill (the Velia) was even cut down in order to make the Colosseum the visual finish line of the entire road and increase its spectacularity. Few monuments were spared: among them were the churches of Santi Cosma e Damiano and Santi Luca e Martina and Tor dei Conti.

The street took its current name at the end of World War II; since 1950, the annual June 2 parade has been held there as part of the Italian Republic Day celebrations. Discontinued in 1977, the parade returned to the ceremonial in 2000.