Hunting for the secrets of Rome: the ancient Port of Ripetta
Porto Clementino, commonly said “of Ripetta”, was designed in 1703 by the architect Alessandro Specchi at the behest of Pope Clement XI. According to Specchi's project, the construction of the new port could not ignore the pre-existing structure, a small but suggestive marina, little more than illegal, already used in the 14th century for the unloading of coal and wood; structure which was therefore skilfully integrated into the new ambitious project.
Curiously, the future port of Ripetta was built with what we would call today “recycled material”: none other than the travertine of three arches of the Colosseum, which that very year had collapsed due to a violent earthquake!
At the inauguration of 1704, which took place on the day of S. Rocco, in honor of the nearby church of the same name, it was finally possible to admire the new monumental complex. The spectacle we found before us was incredible. It matters little that it was built on the ashes of an illegal port and built thanks to the remains of an earthquake: the Port of Ripetta appeared like a jewel of rare beauty and extraordinary architectural originality!
It featured a wavy silhouette in Borrominian style, taken among other things for the steps of Trinità dei Monti, which opened onto the river, between the wings of the houses, in an unexpected and scenographic way.
From the many paintings and engravings of the time, we see that the stepped façade was erected right in front of the church of San Rocco, on the sides two large cordons connected the platforms to the road level and in the center there was an evocative semicircular space with, at the ends, two hydrometric columns.
In the middle of the semicircle there was a beauty fountain cliff-like, with a sort of on top lighthouse, built at a later time so that the porters who unloaded the goods could drink from it. And the fountain itself is all that we have left of this piece of Rome that no longer exists, destroyed by the architectural needs of the time but also by the carelessness of the man who was unable to protect it properly.
The decline and disappearance of the Port
Despite the commercial importance it might have had, the Port was never held in high regard. The periodic floods and above all the poor maintenance soon reduced it to a state of abandonment. It is not surprising, therefore, if, with the start of the works for the construction of Ponte Cavour, which was supposed to unite Campus Martius in the nascent Prati district, the sacrifice of this great architectural work was accepted with relative indifference. The staircase and the terrace were entirely dismantled, to allow the simultaneous construction of the protective walls along the Tiber, and little by little the rest also disappeared, submerged by the river or by the will of man.
With a little imagination…
Today we have to settle for imagine a port that no longer exists. Trying to guess what it must have been like, what cheerful frenzy must have animated the streets, what comings and goings and what voices, what noises, what explosion of life there must have been!
But something remained Porto square Repeat which can help us revive, at least a little, this magical place. Something that few tourists and even few Romans know about: the aforementioned one Clementine or "Navigators" fountain, with its glorious lighthouse which today looks more like a sad turned-off street lamp, but also a surviving column and, a short distance away, theSan Rocco hydrometer.
And while walking around those parts, still gripped by your port suggestions, you might want to stop for a drink, refresh yourself with a delicious dinner or an aperitif. That's why it's there 'Taste! Our restaurant is located in Piazza Augusto Imperatore, a stone's throw from the port that once was.
(By the way... who knows if the people of the port also had a special place where they could gather to enjoy the flavors of the table, to chat around a glass of wine… Who knows… Who knows… Who knows…).
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