Piazza di Termini: Recent History
 |
|
 |
1886:
Construction of the Koch edifices began in a block of the south sector. According to the agreement, it was to be completed in four years. But due to the great crisis of 1887, which paralyzed construction activity in Rome for a decade, realization took much longer.
1888:
The "exhibition" of a new fountain for the Aqua Martia, designed by Alessandro Guerriri, opened in the center of the exedra. The Palazzo "di Termini" and the ex-Villa Peretti were demolished. When the German Kaiser Wilhelm II arrived in Rome (October 11), the first block of the south sector of the exedra had risen to the penultimate story (fig. 21: From Illustrazione Italiana); it was completed in the 1890s (fig. 22: Photography by Alessandro Vasari).
1889:
The Museo Nazionale Romano, the archaeological collection of "Third Rome," was inaugurated in the great galleries of the Baths of Diocletian next to S. Maria degli Angeli and in the rooms of the ex-Certosa.
1896:
The wedding of the Prince of Naples (the future Vittorio Emanuele III) and Elena Petrovich of Montenegro (October 24) was held in the Church of S. Maria degli Angeli. The northern sector of the exedra is still undeveloped (fig. 23: AFC photograph).
1897:
An agreement to construct the "north quarter" of the exedra was struck between the Comune and the Banca d'Italia, the Banca Tiberiana, and the Compagnia Fondiara Italiana; the project was to be completed by 1903.
1900:
On August 9 the funeral of Umberto I, who had been assassinated at Monza on July 29, was held in Rome. The half of the north building of the exedra that faces the Via Nazionale is under construction (fig. 24: Trenkler photograph, Leipzig).
1900-1901:
During the last phase of the construction of the Koch buildings, in the area of the north block, numerous fragments of sculpture that belonged to an unknown monument of the Flavian period were discovered and clandestinely sold on the art market. The fragments are reunited in this exhibition.
