Rome shines with an extensive city beautification in the Holy Year

True sits on the edge of one of the two circular fountains on the redesigned Piazza Pia and writes notes in her diary. She wears a red wool sweater and various necklaces above. The American student is enthusiastic about Rome. “The mood is so natural and relaxed,” she says and blinks into the afternoon sun. Tourists and Romans enliven the square on the Engelsburg, some crouch under trees on the wide steps that rise flat to the tier’s banks. In the past, traffic steadfastly dipped around the square, but it is now banished to a three -lane underpass.

Mayor Roberto Gualtieri speaks of the “Piazza dell’abbraccio” – the “place of the hug” is the heart of his concept for the city beautification in the jubilee year. He wants to modernize Rome and at the same time bring out the “soul of the eternal city”, he says. This certain serenity, which is due to the fact that the Romans have seen many rulers and have seen falling, as the antiquities from 2000 years of history testify. If you visit Rome these days, you can rediscover the city.

The connecting road between the Engelsburg and the Vatican is also car -free. Dwarf palms and laurel trees line the wide avenue. In between tourists and pilgrims – the Holy Year has great spiritual importance for Catholics all over the world. At the start, the bricked -out holy gate is ceremoniously opened in St. Peter’s Basilica. Believers who walk through the holy gate, pray, confess and go to communion are all sins after the custom.

Pilgrim groups, led by a cross carrier, speak according to prayers in walking. In a separate track, they pass the strolling people and strive towards St. Peter’s Basilica. There you will lay down the cross in the crypt on the Peter grave. An army of volunteers in green west channels tourist and pilgrimage flows.

You came from all over the world, like Jerusa and José from Rio de Janeiro. José stands at the entrance of Sankt Peter and gives a visitor a tip on how to photograph the holy gate. The Brazilian couple stays for five weeks and is used in different locations. “We reported to take part in this big pilgrimage festival,” says Jerusa. “What could be nicer than spending the day in this magnificent church?” She calls. And Rome has become so much more splendid in the jubilee year.

The urban renewal comprises 276 construction projects on monuments, streets and squares. A budget weighing 4.8 billion came together from the state, the region and the EU construction fund. All monumental fountain from the Piazza Navona via Santa Maria Maggiore and the Piazza Farnese shine in new splendor. After three months of restoration, the water bubbles again at the Trevibrunnen. The notorious crowd should stop a limitation to 400 visitors at the same time.

The baroque statues on the famous angel bridge shine in white. A car-free boulevard between the metro station and the Vatican has become from the business street via Ottaviano. A highlight is the design on the almost twenty square meter forecourt of the Lateranskirche. The soil is paved with Roman sanpietrini, basalt and travertine, the circular forms take up the motifs of the cosmaten mosaic floors in the Lateran Church and produce continuity between inside and outside. Circular fountains with water features are embedded on the square, which should refresh visitors over high heat.

The city beautification in connection with a holy year goes back to a long tradition. Pope Sixtus IV had announced a “Giubileo” in 1475 and commissioned the construction of the Sistine chapel named after him. The anniversary in 1550 and Pope Paul III owes posterity to Michelangelo’s place on the Capitol Hill. The Catholic Church has called for a holy year every 25 years. Pope Bonifatius VII declared the first in the sign of reconciliation with God and the people in 1300. Pope Francis’s motto is “pilgrim of hope”. Accordingly, we are all pilgrims on earth. In this way, people should admire and respect the beauty of creation, according to Franziskus’.

Large trade fairs are held on St. Peter’s Square over the year. They are aimed at certain groups such as professional fields, school and education, the sick and health sector, communication and media, police and armed forces or to certain categories such as choirs, volunteering or poverty. For the first time, Francis also prisoners with an anniversary day who is celebrated in the detention centers. However, due to his hospital stay, the Pope cannot currently celebrate the trade fairs.

In addition to the religious ceremonies, the jubilee year attracts with a large cultural offer. There are free guided tours to places that could not be seen otherwise, like the “Necropoli di San Paolo”, an immense city of the dead on the outdoor road via Ostiense. Or the “Sepolcro Degli Scipioni,” the enchanted tomb of the ancient general Scipione on Via Appia Antica, and the “Teatro Marcello”, in which a residential building was built on antique walls in the Middle Ages to this day.

The omnipresence of antiquity can also be explored on guided walks, in historical parks such as the park of the aqueducts or on a tour under the title “Walls, bridges and city gates”. For families there are offers in the municipal museums such as in the Museo Barracco, in the children the approach of an archaeologist is brought about. A highlight are the night walks that are planned in the summer months. Effectively oriented lighting stages the monuments and the darkness does the rest to move the visitor into a magical world.