Porta Pia

Porta Pia is a gate in the Aurelian Walls of Rome, Italy. One of Pope Pius IV's civic improvements to the city, it is named after him. Situated at the end of a new street, the Via Pia, it was designed by Michelangelo in replacement for the Porta Nomentana situated several hundred meters southwards, which was closed up at the same time. Construction began in 1561 and ended in 1565, after the artist's death. A 1561 bronze commemorative medal by Gianfederico Bonzagna shows an early plan by Michelangelo, very different from his final design.. The façade on the outside of the city was completed in 1869 under the Neo-Classicist design by Virginio Vespignani.

History

Capture of Rome

The Capture of Rome (20 September 1870) was the final event of the long process of Italian unification known as the Risorgimento, marking both the final defeat of the Papal States under Pope Pius IX and the unification the Italian peninsula under King Victor Emmanuel II of the House of Savoy.

The Capture of Rome ended the approximate 1,116 year reign (754 to 1870 AD) of the Papal States under the Holy See and is today widely memorialized throughout Italy with the Via XX Settembre street name in virtually every town of any size.

Prelude

Second Italian War of Independence

During the Second Italian War of Independence, much of the Papal States had been conquered by the Piedmontese Army, and the new unified Kingdom of Italy was created in March 1861, when the first Italian Parliament met in Turin. On 27 March 1861, the Parliament declared Rome the Capital of the Kingdom of Italy. However, the Italian government could not take its seat in Rome because it did not control the territory. In addition, a French garrison was maintained in the city by Napoleon III of France in support of Pope Pius IX, who was determined not to hand over temporal power in the States of the Church.