Rome, as they say, wasn’t built in a day. This legacy of protracted undertakings hasn’t changed much as we close in on the year 2000.
Perhaps that’s why they call it the Eternal City: It takes forever to build anything here.
In preparation for the new millennium, Rome is in the midst of a massive renewal program the likes of which it hasn’t seen since the days of the Caesars.
Centuries of grime and pollution are being scrubbed from the facades of churches and palaces. Ruins are being reinforced and spruced up to look like, well, spruced-up ruins.
And then there are the modern touches — new roads, parking facilities, museums and theaters.
There are 50 new churches going up, as if Rome didn’t have enough, and one, by American architect Richard Meier, with its bold concrete shells, symbolizes the efforts to take Rome into the next century.
To walk around the historic center of town in the autumn of 1999, it would not be far-fetched to suppose that Christo, the contemporary artist who gift-wraps buildings and bridges, had secretly paid a visit.
But he hasn’t. It just looks that way.
Much of this activity is timed to coincide with the Jubilee.
Since the year 1300, popes have been savvy marketers to the tourist trade, calling faithful Catholics the world over to make a special trip to the Vatican in holy years. They came by horseback and by donkey and many walked the fabled pilgrim’s route from Canterbury, England.
It’s been great for business, both spiritual and commercial, so much so that over the years the popes upped the number of Jubilee celebrations from every 100 to every 50 and, now, every 25 years. By all accounts, next year’s will be a Jubilee to top all Jubilees.
But is Rome ready to welcome an anticipated 29 million visitors? In a typical year, 12 to 14 million people flock to the Italian capital and Vatican City. With more than twice that number poised to descend next year, there’s been some serious planning, hand wringing and plenty of frustration for Romans.
“We have reversed the bad Italian habit of using big events to carry out rhapsodic and uncoordinated public works,” said Rome’s mayor, Francesco Rutelli, in a foreword to the book “Rome: Towards the Year 2000.”
In fact, he sees the Jubilee as a mere test from which even grander infrastructure schemes will develop in the next decade, paving the way for the transformation of the city along the lines of what Paris, Barcelona and Berlin have undertaken. “No city can survive on its past merits,” Rutelli wrote, “and Rome is now playing all its cards.”
So what can a tourist expect next year on a visit to Rome? When the scaffolding comes down there will be a glistening city on display — and that has already upset some purists. St. Peter’s Basilica, the biggest church in the world, revealed itself in September in all its glory after a two-year facelift to the facade. Stunning multi-colored hues of ochre, red and green columns grace the Loggia delle Benedizione from which the pope stands to bless the crowds. Some restoration experts claim the enhanced color scheme clashes with the original design and was motivated more by the church’s role next year as the central stage for the Jubilee than by faithful restoration.
The Colosseum will have added amenities and, like most antiquities throughout the city, better lighting for night-time viewing. New access to the famous amphitheater’s arena level will reveal the winch-driven elevators that used to carry wild beasts and other animals to the stage.
Such is the delicate nature of restoration that plants growing in cracks of the highest arches are of exotic origin and must be treated with care: Their seeds were carried in the cages of captured lions and brought to Rome 2,000 years ago.
Excavations of the Imperial Forums are well under way but won’t be completed for the Jubilee. Still, the archeological dig — the largest in the world — will bring to light 15,000 square meters of ancient Rome, an area roughly equal to that already exposed. New walkways and interpretive stations will create an open-air museum for the work in progress.
Surprisingly, this ancient city is lacking in certain amenities expected of an international metropolis. Rome has been without a proper concert hall for 60 years, and it’s a good thing the ambitious project to correct this was started in 1994. Famed Italian architect Renzo Piano’s complex of three beetle-shaped auditoriums may still open on time this Christmas.
As happens so frequently when building anything here, ancient ruins were uncovered, bringing construction to a halt. The plans were redrawn to incorporate the newfound archeology and enhance the ever present contrast of the old and the new, a defining feature of this city.
Logistical problems associated with the coming crush of humanity has made getting around town a nightmarish experience for Rome’s three million inhabitants. With traffic interruptions and entire neighborhoods now off limits to cars, preparations have tested the fiery Roman temperament.
The authorities are playing up the positive aspects of a city in transition, pointing out the results will outlast the Year 2000 (though some will be more fleeting than others). “Next year, Rome will show the brilliant original colors of its Baroque palaces and churches,” said Paolo Gentiloni, head of the city’s committee overseeing the Jubilee. “But unfortunately, it won’t last. Five years from now the city will again be gray from pollution, which is a reality of modern cities.”
Among many public work projects, Rome will benefit from an improved system of public transit. Subway lines are being extended, spiffy new trams now glide through the city center. The cavernous and grotty Termini train station will be more user-friendly, and the first large-scale underground parking lot in Vatican City is ready for the tour buses.
But will there be room at the inn? Gentiloni said measures to boost the number of beds in Rome will mean 12,000 more people can stay in the city. That’s a 16 percent jump from the 74,000 existing spaces and was achieved through relaxing laws and providing incentives to small hotels to expand.
Romans will literally be opening their doors to guests as the concept of bed-and-breakfast accommodation takes hold in the coming months. And the Rome airport is finally getting a hotel. The 500-room Hilton opens in November.
Still, officials concede not everyone will be able to stay in or even near Rome. The Vatican is arranging lodgings in Assisi, and the far reaches of commuting will extend from Florence to Naples. One American priest who has led tours to Rome for more than two decades said hotel prices in the city are jumping next year in anticipation of the demand.
Even Gentiloni cautions against visiting Rome during two peak periods next year: Easter week and a World Youth Conference that is expected to bring 1.5 million people to Rome’s doorstep in mid-August. The timing of this event was carefully chosen to fall when most Romans are on holiday.
Cultural events, both sacred and profane, will fill the calendar next year. The Jubilee is a spiritual event, but art exhibits, rock concerts and opera will be just as much a part of the celebration.
The Vatican recognizes the marketing opportunities and has licensed official sponsors for everything from an official mineral water of the Jubilee (the nearby spring of Fiuggi) to Jubilee-logo emblazoned glassware and apparel. Much of these products will soon be available from an e-commerce Web site run by a Swiss firm called Kilnform.
More than the opportunity to pick up souvenirs or witness the rebirth of a city, there’s another incentive for the faithful to make the trip to Rome next year: a Jubilee provides Catholics with a form of pardon of past sins. Plenary indulgences are granted when the faithful come to the Vatican during a holy year. And that kind of heaven-sent invitation comes along only once every quarter of a century.
THE OLD AND THE NEW ROME ON VIEW
Rome’s renewal for the Jubilee will be a showcase for the city’s cultural heritage. Here are seven jewels that highlight the old and the new Rome that can be visited next year.
Galleria Borghese (Piazza Scipione Borghes 5; 011-06-841-7645; 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday): This early 17th Century villa situated in a park setting in the center of Rome has been renovated and opened to the public for the first time. Its frescoed interior houses a well-proportioned museum of ancient sculptures and a series by Bernini as well as famous paintings by Caravaggio and Tiziano. The former aviary, in which the wealthy Borghese family kept exotic birds, is now an elegant bar for museum guests.
Church of the New Millennium (Tor Tre Teste): Located in the southeastern suburb of Tor Tre Teste between Via Castilina and Via Prenestina, American architect Richard Meier’s soaring structure of repeating concrete shells is destined to be a lasting symbol of the Jubilee. A tree-lined piazza and church yard anchor the structure whose curved walls are like “sails slightly billowed by the wind.”
Aria Pacis Augustae (Lungotevere in Augusta; 011-06-688-068-48; 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday): One of the most important monuments of ancient Rome, this grand altar — which celebrated successful campaigns against Spain and Gaul — fell into disrepair and was largely ignored in the 20th Century. A new museum to be built around the monument designed by American Richard Meier will give it the visibility and accessibility it deserves along the banks of the Tiber River.
Palazzo Altemps and Palazzo Massimo (Piazza Sant Apollinare 46; 06-520-726; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday): These two palaces from the 16th and 19th Centuries have been re-opened as part of the Roman National Museum. Palazzo Altemps houses antiquities and books. Palazzo Massimo houses portraits, sculpture and decorative arts from the late Republican and Imperial era.
The Centrale Montemartini (Via Ostiense 106; 96-575-4207; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday): This former electric power plant was meant to be a temporary exhibit hall for Roman statuary and mosaics while renovations were carried out on the Capitoline museum. The striking juxtaposition of Greek-inspired busts and vases against boiler room generators and turbines has been such a hit that the exhibit will likely become permanent. This is a fine example of industrial archeology.
Modern Art Museum (Via Francesco Crispi 24; 011-06-474-2843; 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday): This gallery, converted from an early 20th Century brewery, is the first public gallery devoted to modern art in Rome. The Art Nouveau cluster of buildings features a patchwork of many little museums, a library, active studios and a book shop.
The stables of the President’s palace, Il Quirinale (Piazza del Quirinale; 011-06-46991): Gae Aulenti, the architect who transformed Paris’ Gare d’Orsay, has converted the 18th Century stables into a modern art gallery.
IF YOU GO
– Web sites
www.piuitalia2000.it This comprehensive Jubilee Web site is designed by ENIT, the Italian Government Tourism Office.
www.vatican.va Your direct link to God, or the next best thing; outlines events for the holy year.
www.familyhome.org provides a list of bed and breakfasts in and around Rome (011-06-581-57742; e-mail info@familyhome.org.
Hotel Italia provides a central reservation system for hotels throughout Italy (02-295-31605; fax 02-295-31586).
The Rome tourist office, APT, can also assist in hotel bookings (06-488-991; fax 06-481-9316).
– Information
Italian Government Tourist Office, 500 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 2240, Chicago, IL 60611; 312-644-9174. The office offers a map of Italy and Year 2000 Jubilee, a list of events throughout the country.
