Via Felice and Sixtus V's Roads of Rome
Dublin Core
Title
Via Felice and Sixtus V's Roads of Rome
Description
Sixteenth-century Rome had a surprisingly basic and outdated street system. Street traffic consisted primarily of horses, oxen, donkeys, carriages, and carts. Beggars and vendors crowded the streets as pedestrians, with smaller animals such as pigs and sheep scattered around. The roads were often plagued by sewage, overgrown vegetation, and waste. Fishmongers and butchers frequently threw their remains into the streets [1].
Popes before Sixtus all made efforts to address this problem. The bulls of Sixtus IV, Pius IV, and Gregory XIII prohibited the throwing of trash onto the streets, cleaned up overgrown vegetation and obstruction, and required street paving. [1] These reforms cleaned up the city and improved the health of Romans who relied on these streets daily. Pope Sixtus IV was in fact known as the "Urbis Restaurator" for his success with street repair, and he notably enlisted the "Maestri di Strada", a committee dedicated to the upkeep of the streets of Rome [2]. Pope Sixtus V built upon these elementary cleansing-based approaches and differentiated himself by implementing significant organizational reforms to redefine the structure and flow of Rome.
Pope Sixtus V combined civic and papal Rome, created fifteen permanent congregation spaces, and increased the number of masters (assigned to take care of the city's structures and channels) from two to fourteen [1]. Sixtus V designed roads and avenues throughout Rome that were especially long and straight. He did this to connect religious landmarks by increasing the fluidity of the city, thereby facilitating the progression of pilgrims from church to church, initiating secular urban development, and cementing his legacy.
Pope Sixtus V’s most notable street is the Via Felice, which connected the Trinità dei Monti on the Pincian Hill (which can be found today at the summit of the Spanish Steps) with Santa Maria Maggiore and extended to the Santa Croce in Jerusalem. The Via Felice was never completed, but was intended to continue from the Trinità dei Monti to the Piazza del Popolo. In modern day Rome, the Via Felice is the unison of Via Sistina, Via delle Quattro Fontane, and Via de Pretis. Sixtus V created the Via Felice with the goal of developing the Roman hills and establishing the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore as a focal point of Rome [1].
Some of his other notable arteries are the Via Santa Croce, and Via Panisperna. The Via Santa Croce was opened by Sixtus V and was important for pilgrims as it connected Santa Maria Maggiore with the church of Santa Croce in Jerusalem. The Via Panisperna was also started by Sixtus and connects Santa Maria Maggiore and the Piazza della Colonna Traiana [3].
To further establish his new streets as prominent arteries in the city, Sixtus V granted special privileges to those who built on the new streets, such as exemption from taxes and property confiscation [1].
Sixtus V's innovative urban planning shines through his great attention to detail as he created each of these roads with intention and purpose.
Giovanni Francesco Bordini (1536-1609), an ordained priest, published a book of poems that praised the work of Sixtus, and included an engraving of Sixtus V’s plan of the new streets. This system had multiple centers, one for each landmark (i.e. the Lateran Palace, the churches of Santa Croce and the Trinità dei Monti), with the Santa Maria Maggiore serving as the center star for pilgrimage [4].
Popes before Sixtus all made efforts to address this problem. The bulls of Sixtus IV, Pius IV, and Gregory XIII prohibited the throwing of trash onto the streets, cleaned up overgrown vegetation and obstruction, and required street paving. [1] These reforms cleaned up the city and improved the health of Romans who relied on these streets daily. Pope Sixtus IV was in fact known as the "Urbis Restaurator" for his success with street repair, and he notably enlisted the "Maestri di Strada", a committee dedicated to the upkeep of the streets of Rome [2]. Pope Sixtus V built upon these elementary cleansing-based approaches and differentiated himself by implementing significant organizational reforms to redefine the structure and flow of Rome.
Pope Sixtus V combined civic and papal Rome, created fifteen permanent congregation spaces, and increased the number of masters (assigned to take care of the city's structures and channels) from two to fourteen [1]. Sixtus V designed roads and avenues throughout Rome that were especially long and straight. He did this to connect religious landmarks by increasing the fluidity of the city, thereby facilitating the progression of pilgrims from church to church, initiating secular urban development, and cementing his legacy.
Pope Sixtus V’s most notable street is the Via Felice, which connected the Trinità dei Monti on the Pincian Hill (which can be found today at the summit of the Spanish Steps) with Santa Maria Maggiore and extended to the Santa Croce in Jerusalem. The Via Felice was never completed, but was intended to continue from the Trinità dei Monti to the Piazza del Popolo. In modern day Rome, the Via Felice is the unison of Via Sistina, Via delle Quattro Fontane, and Via de Pretis. Sixtus V created the Via Felice with the goal of developing the Roman hills and establishing the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore as a focal point of Rome [1].
Some of his other notable arteries are the Via Santa Croce, and Via Panisperna. The Via Santa Croce was opened by Sixtus V and was important for pilgrims as it connected Santa Maria Maggiore with the church of Santa Croce in Jerusalem. The Via Panisperna was also started by Sixtus and connects Santa Maria Maggiore and the Piazza della Colonna Traiana [3].
To further establish his new streets as prominent arteries in the city, Sixtus V granted special privileges to those who built on the new streets, such as exemption from taxes and property confiscation [1].
Sixtus V's innovative urban planning shines through his great attention to detail as he created each of these roads with intention and purpose.
Giovanni Francesco Bordini (1536-1609), an ordained priest, published a book of poems that praised the work of Sixtus, and included an engraving of Sixtus V’s plan of the new streets. This system had multiple centers, one for each landmark (i.e. the Lateran Palace, the churches of Santa Croce and the Trinità dei Monti), with the Santa Maria Maggiore serving as the center star for pilgrimage [4].
Creator
Pope Sixtus V
Source
[1] Long, Pamela O. Engineering the Eternal City: Infrastructure, Topography, and the Culture of Knowledge in Late Sixteenth-Century Rome. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018.
[2] Blondin, Jill E. “Power Made Visible: Pope Sixtus IV as ‘Urbis Restaurator’ in Quattrocento Rome.” The Catholic Historical Review 91, no. 1 (2005): 1–25. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25026778.
[3] Burroughs, Charles. “Opacity and Transparence: Networks and Enclaves in the Rome of Sixtus V.” RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics, no. 41 (2002): 56–71. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20167556.
[4] Bordini, Giovanni Francesco. De Rebvs Praeclare Gestis a Sixto v. Pon. Max. Io. Francisci Bordini I.C. Et Praesbiteri Ro. Carminvm Liber Primvs. Romae: Zanetti, 1588.
[2] Blondin, Jill E. “Power Made Visible: Pope Sixtus IV as ‘Urbis Restaurator’ in Quattrocento Rome.” The Catholic Historical Review 91, no. 1 (2005): 1–25. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25026778.
[3] Burroughs, Charles. “Opacity and Transparence: Networks and Enclaves in the Rome of Sixtus V.” RES: Anthropology and Aesthetics, no. 41 (2002): 56–71. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20167556.
[4] Bordini, Giovanni Francesco. De Rebvs Praeclare Gestis a Sixto v. Pon. Max. Io. Francisci Bordini I.C. Et Praesbiteri Ro. Carminvm Liber Primvs. Romae: Zanetti, 1588.
Publisher
Pope Sixtus V
Date
1585-1590
Contributor
Cameron DeChurch
Format
The Strada Felice (or Via Sistina) stretches 1.6 kilometers. The Via Santa Croce stretched 1.7 kilometers. The Via Panisperna stretches 1.4 miles.
Type
Roads
Coverage
Rome, Italy
Files
Collection
Citation
Pope Sixtus V, “Via Felice and Sixtus V's Roads of Rome,” ARTHIST 256 - Italian Baroque Art - Fall 2021, accessed October 22, 2026, https://www.baroque.dahvc.org/fall-2021/items/show/308.