Rome Lights Up Its Legacy: Beauty and Security for Iconic Monuments
Rome, Italy – The Eternal City is embarking on an ambitious program to enhance the night-time visibility of its world-renowned monuments and archaeological sites. This initiative, spearheaded by the Campidoglio, aims to strike a delicate balance between showcasing Rome’s unparalleled artistic heritage and ensuring the safety of its citizens and millions of tourists.
A Dual Objective: Aesthetics and Public Safety
In a city as rich in art and history as Rome, the objective of artistic illumination extends beyond mere aesthetics. Officials emphasize the need to integrate both beauty and safety, recognizing that well-lit public spaces deter crime and create a more welcoming environment. This dual necessity drives the transformation of iconic urban areas.
Architects, cultural heritage experts, Areti technicians, and public works officials are collaborating to converge diverse requirements into a unified lighting scheme. The challenge lies in respecting the ‘philology’ of Rome’s ‘Great Beauty’-the authentic historical and artistic context-while simultaneously interpreting spaces and times for the safe enjoyment of monuments by both tourists and residents. This complex endeavor seeks to integrate monumental valorization, urban safety, sustainability, and architectural quality.
Pioneering Projects: Trajan’s Markets and Caracalla Baths
The study conducted on Trajan’s Markets serves as a prime example, potentially earning Rome Capital recognition in a specialized urban landscape magazine. This site, of global interest and immense historical-artistic value, lies at the heart of ancient Rome, making its illumination a crucial undertaking.
Over recent years, an extensive program of interventions has been launched, targeting both symbolic locations in the city center and strategic areas of urban mobility and the periphery. The goal is to improve the usability of spaces during evening and night hours and to strengthen their identity and recognizability, according to the Campidoglio.
Completed Interventions: Piazza della Repubblica and San Giovanni
Operations already completed include new lighting systems in Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano and Piazza della Repubblica. In these areas, light has been meticulously studied by light designers to be calibrated to the subject, or subjects, being illuminated, making it an integral part of the urban space.
“In Piazza della Repubblica, the project enhances the geometries, historical architectures, and the Fountain of the Naiads, while also improving the legibility of pathways and the perception of safety. In San Giovanni, the intervention supports the relationship between the basilica, the large churchyard, and the surrounding public spaces through sober and uniform lighting that restores greater urban quality and evening usability,” officials described. The tangible result is perhaps most evident in the galleries of Piazza della Repubblica, which, under new and more powerful lighting, have become more accessible and, indeed, more frequented.
Archaeological Sites: Caracalla Baths, Trajan’s Markets, and Aqueducts
Further artistic lighting interventions are underway at the Baths of Caracalla, Trajan’s Markets, and the Claudio and Alessandrino aqueducts. These projects incorporate tailor-made solutions for archaeological heritage, emphasizing their volumes, materials, and perspectives through the use of new lighting technologies. For the aqueducts, the lighting is also designed to improve the safety and usability of the cycle and pedestrian paths that cross these areas, utilizing intelligent lighting regulation systems and low-energy consumption technologies.
Extending Illumination to Surrounding Areas
Beyond monumental valorization, the Campidoglio is also focusing on urban safety in the surrounding areas. For instance, while Piazza della Repubblica has been re-illuminated, adjacent zones such as the Planetarium, Santa Maria degli Angeli, the Baths of Diocletian, and the entire axis from the Temple of Minerva Medica to Porta Maggiore require similar attention. These areas are slated for future interventions to eliminate darkness and improve continuity, accessibility, and safety in a strategic part of Rome-a gateway to the city for those arriving from the railway hub, and home to world-renowned monuments. In such crucial locations, even a single light bulb cannot be misplaced.
Broader Urban Safety Initiatives
This lighting initiative is part of a broader effort to enhance urban safety in Rome. Recent measures include the implementation of a “Night Plan” to address issues like ‘malamovida’ (disorderly nightlife), with street tutors and shuttle services. The city has also increased the number of patrols, surveillance cameras, and boosted bus lines to ensure greater control and safety during night hours. Additionally, there are plans to address dark, degraded, and waste-filled underpasses, with some slated for closure.
These comprehensive efforts underscore Rome’s commitment to preserving its historical grandeur while creating a safer and more enjoyable urban experience for everyone.
Source: https://roma.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/26_maggio_24/campidoglio-i-progetti-per-rendere-i-monumenti-di-roma-piu-visibili-di-notte-fra-bellezza-e-sicurezza-1eec4821-0de4-40b4-90a1-829ecf777xlk.shtml
