Museo delle Mura

Last updated
Museo delle Mura
Porta St. Sebastiano Rome 2011 1.jpg
Porta San Sebastiano, home of the museum
Museo delle Mura
Click on the map for a fullscreen view
Established1990 (1990)
LocationVia di Porta San Sebastiano, 18
Coordinates 41°52′24″N12°30′05″E / 41.8734°N 12.5014°E / 41.8734; 12.5014
Type Archaeological museum
Website museodellemuraroma.it

The Museo delle Mura ("museum of the walls") is an archaeological museum in Rome, Italy. It is housed in the first and second floors of the Porta San Sebastiano at the beginning of the Appian Way. [1] It provides an exhibition on the walls of Rome and their building techniques, as well as the opportunity to walk along the inside of one of the best-preserved stretches of the Aurelian Wall. [2] The museum is free of charge.

Contents

History

The museum in its present form, was officially opened in 1990. Prior to 1939, the Porta San Sebastiano (also known as the Porta Appia) had been open to the public but it was then taken over by Ettore Muti, the Secretary of the Italian Fascist Party. [3] White-and-black mosaics in some rooms date back to that time. From 1970, there was a small museum connected to the internal parapet of the Aurelian Wall but this museum was only open to the public on Sundays, and, after a few years, was closed. [4]

Exhibition

View from the walkway accessed through the museum AurelianWallatPorta SanSebastiano.jpg
View from the walkway accessed through the museum

The museum provides a detailed history of wall construction in Rome and the surrounding areas, with information going back to one constructed in Ardea to the southeast of Rome in the 8th century. It describes the construction methods of the first Roman wall, built by Servius Tullius the legendary sixth king of Rome, the second wall constructed in the 4th century BC after invasion of Rome by the Gauls, and the Aurelian Walls, constructed in the 3rd century AD, as well as subsequent work to raise the height of those walls and improve defences, and more recent additions and changes up to the 20th century. In addition to text and diagrams, some models of walls are provided. [5]

The rooms

This is a reception room, in the west tower of the Gate. It can be used for video projections. The room has one of the Fascist era mosaics showing a tiger ambushing two deer.

This occupies the first floor, standing over the arch of the Porta S. Sebastiano. There are informative panels about the earliest walls and the subsequent Aurelian Walls. The construction of the Aurelian walls was the largest building project that had taken place in Rome for some time, and their construction was a statement of the continued strength of Rome. [6] The exhibits explain the events that necessitated their construction, and the reasons for the choice of the path followed. The panels also describe the building techniques and the types of gate. There is also a panel dedicated to military equipment used both by defenders and attackers. [4]

One of the exhibitions MuseumoftheWalls exhibition.jpg
One of the exhibitions

This room, in the east tower, has models of walls and a topographic plan of ancient Rome and the routes of the first three walls.

This room provides information about the Ports San Sebastiano and other gates in the walls of Rome.

The room provides information about the Appian Way, the beginning of which can be seen from the windows.

This discusses developments and restorations up to the present day.

This contains a model of wall fortifications designed by Antonio da Sangallo (1453-1534). [4]

The terrace of the Porta San Sebastiano can be visited together with a 350-meter stretch of the inside of the Aurelian Wall going west as far as the Via Cristoforo Colombo, in a covered gallery interrupted by ten towers. Remains of the original flooring can be noted. [7] Arrow slits for archers can be seen, as well as staircases inside several of the towers which used to lead to the command rooms. Restoration work can be distinguished by the various types of construction technique. Squared arrow slits from 1848 can also be seen. These were the result of adaptations made to adapt the original slits for artillery. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Servian Wall</span> Defensive barrier around the ancient city of Rome

The Servian Wall is an ancient Roman defensive barrier constructed around the city of Rome in the early 4th century BC. The wall was built of volcanic tuff and was up to 10 m (33 ft) in height in places, 3.6 m (12 ft) wide at its base, 11 km (6.8 mi) long, and is believed to have had 16 main gates, of which only one or two have survived, and enclosed a total area of 246 hectares. In the 3rd century AD it was superseded by the construction of the larger Aurelian Walls as the city of Rome grew beyond the boundary of the Servian Wall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aurelian Walls</span> Defensive fortifications built around Rome in the 3rd century AD

The Aurelian Walls are a line of city walls built between 271 AD and 275 AD in Rome, Italy, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Aurelian. They superseded the earlier Servian Wall built during the 4th century BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castro Pretorio</span> Rione of Rome in Lazio, Italy

Castro Pretorio is the 18th rione of Rome, Italy, identified by the initials R. XVIII, and it is located within the Municipio I. The rione takes its name by the ruins of the Castrum Praetorium, the barracks of the Praetorian Guard, included in the Aurelian Walls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porta San Paolo</span> Gate of the Aurelian walls, a landmark of Rome, Italy

The Porta San Paolo is one of the southern gates in the 3rd-century Aurelian Walls of Rome, Italy. The Via Ostiense Museum is housed within the gatehouse. It is in the Ostiense quarter; just to the west is the Roman Pyramid of Cestius, an Egyptian-style pyramid, and beyond that is the Protestant Cemetery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Sebastiano fuori le mura</span> Church in Rome, Italy

San Sebastiano fuori le mura, or San Sebastiano ad Catacumbas, is a minor basilica in Rome, Central Italy. Up to the Great Jubilee of 2000, San Sebastiano was one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome, and many pilgrims still favour the traditional list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porta San Sebastiano</span> Gate of the Aurelian walls, a landmark of Rome, Italy

The Porta San Sebastiano is the largest and one of the best-preserved gates passing through the Aurelian Walls in Rome (Italy).

Porta can refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porta Tiburtina</span> Gate of the Aurelian walls, a landmark of Rome, Italy

Porta Tiburtina or Porta San Lorenzo is a gate in the Aurelian Walls of Rome, Italy, through which the Via Tiburtina exits the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porta Salaria</span> Former gate in the Aurelian Walls of Rome

Porta Salaria was a gate in the Aurelian Walls of Rome, Italy. Constructed between 271 AD and 275 AD, it was demolished in 1921.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porta San Pancrazio</span> Gate of the Aurelian walls, a landmark of Rome, Italy

Porta San Pancrazio is one of the southern gates of the Aurelian walls in Rome, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porta San Giovanni (Rome)</span> Gate of the Aurelian walls, a landmark of Rome, Italy

Porta San Giovanni is a gate in the Aurelian Wall of Rome, Italy, named after the nearby Archbasilica of Saint John Lateran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porta Asinaria</span> Gate of the Aurelian walls, a landmark of Rome, Italy

The Porta Asinaria is a gate in the Aurelian Walls of Rome. Dominated by two protruding tower blocks and associated guard rooms, it was built between 271 and 275 AD, at the same time as the Wall itself. Unlike most of the other gates, it was not rebuilt or fortified by Honorius or restored by Theoderic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porta Settimiana</span> Gate of the Aurelian walls, a landmark of Rome, Italy

Porta Settimiana is one of the gates of the Aurelian walls in Rome, Italy. It rises at the northern vertex of the rough triangle traced by the town walls, built by Emperor Aurelian in the 3rd century, in the area of Trastevere and up through the Janiculum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porta Nomentana</span> Gate of the Aurelian walls, a landmark of Rome, Italy

The Porta Nomentana was one of the gates in the Aurelian Walls of Rome, Italy. It is located along viale del Policlinico, around 70 m east of Porta Pia. It is now blocked and merely a boundary wall for the British Embassy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Appian Way Regional Park</span> Large archaeological park in Rome, Italy

The Appian Way Regional Park is the second-largest urban park of Europe, after Losiny Ostrov National Park in Moscow. It is a protected area of around 4580 hectares, established by the Italian region of Latium. It falls primarily within the territory of Rome but parts also extend into the neighbouring towns of Ciampino and Marino. The peculiarity of the park that distinguishes it, is that it also hosts the Archaeological park of Appia Antica, which coincides with the perimeter of the regional park itself. It is a monumental park which contains precious legacies of ancient Rome, including the Appian Way, various Roman aqueducts, Roman villas, mausoleums, catacombs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janiculum walls</span>

The Janiculum walls are a stretch of defensive walls erected in 1643 by Pope Urban VIII as a completion of the Leonine wall and for a better protection of the area of Rome rising on the right bank of the Tiber.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porta Ardeatina</span> Gate of the Aurelian walls, a landmark of Rome, Italy

Porta Ardeatina was one of the gates of the Aurelian Walls in Rome (Italy). The gate was built in the time of Nero. It stands at an angle in the Aurelian Walls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walls of Grosseto</span> Brick wall in Grosseto, Tuscany, Italy

The Walls of Grosseto, known also as Medicean Walls, are a series of defensive brick walls surrounding the city of Grosseto in Tuscany, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Porta Corsica</span> City gate in Grosseto, Italy

Porta Corsica is a gate located along the south-western section of the city walls of Grosseto. Its name is derived from the geographical reference point in that direction, across the sea, towards which the gate faces. It is situated along the stretch of the city wall that connects the Cavallerizza Bastion to the Molino a Vento Bastion.

References

  1. "Museo delle Mura". Musei in Comune. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  2. "Museo delle Mura". Sovritendenza Capitolina. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
  3. "Porta San Sebastiano & Museo delle Mura | Rome, Italy Attractions".
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Museo delle Mura". Archived from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  5. "Museo delle Mura | Museums in Rome". 15 February 2018.
  6. Aldrete, Gregory S (2004). Daily Life In The Roman City: Rome, Pompeii, And Ostia, Greenwood Press, 2004, pp. 41-42. ISBN   0-313-33174-X
  7. "Museo delle mura". Lazio eterna scoperta. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
Preceded by
Museo delle anime del Purgatorio
Landmarks of Rome
Museo delle Mura
Succeeded by
Museo di Roma