Piazza dell'Indipendenza (Rome)
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junctionsVia Solferino &
Via San Martino della Battaglia
 View of the square (1970) | |
 Interactive map of Piazza dell'Indipendenza | |
| Location | Rome, Italy |
|---|---|
| Postal code | 00185 |
| Coordinates | 41°54′16″N 12°30′09″E / 41.904377°N 12.502469°E |
| Major junctions | Via Solferino & Via San Martino della Battaglia |
| Construction | |
| Construction start | 1872 |
Piazza dell'Indipendenza (Independence Square) in Rome is a square in Municipio V (the 5th municipality) of the Castro Pretorio district of the Italian capital city. It is situated between Via Solferino and Via San Martino della Battaglia.
After the annexation of Rome by the Kingdom of Italy, in 1871, work began on the construction of a new district at the Castro Pretorio. The first settlement was built for the nobility and the upper middle class that had migrated to Rome to serve in a political office or the Royal Court, while Esquilino, also under construction, was intended for the clerical and petty bourgeois classes. The new quarter was built around a square that would function as the center of the new area. In 1872, it was decided to name it Independence Square, honoring the Italian War of Independence.[1] The new square rose roughly where in Ancient Rome stood Campus Scelleratus, the place where the Vestali (the Vestal Virgins) who violated their virginity vows were buried alive.[2]
By 1872, the square was already called "the new quarter" in travel books.[3]