The Lost Gateway of Early Modern Rome: The Development of the Port of Ripa Grande from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century

This book reconstructs the lost river port of Ripa Grande, Rome’s principal river port from the Middle Ages until its demolition in the late nineteenth century. Despite its social, economic, and topographical significance, as well as its extensive Baroque remodelling, the design and spatial logic of the port have received limited scholarly attention. Urban histories of Rome tend to mention Ripa Grande only briefly, without addressing the long-term transformation of its spatial configuration. Studies of the Tiber similarly include only cursory references to the port’s history and topography, with little sustained analysis of its architectural and spatial characteristics. Where more detailed discussion exists, it is typically focused on the Ospizio di San Michele, the large institutional complex that dominated the eighteenth-century port, yet this scholarship often treats the building in isolation and neglects its interdependence with the wider port and urban fabric. As a result, the form and historical development of Ripa Grande remain only partially understood.

This study addresses these gaps through the analysis of previously overlooked historic views, maps, and archival material. Unpublished surveys identified in the archives of the Accademia di San Luca and the Archivio di Stato document previously unknown phases in the port’s development and clarify its Early Modern transformations. These sources are synthesised into a series of reconstructed plans and axonometric drawings, which enable a more precise understanding of the port’s spatial organisation and the design principles underlying its eighteenth-century remodelling. The reconstructions also recover the original urban context of key structures, including the Ospizio di San Michele.

This methodology provides new insight into a significant yet understudied aspect of Rome’s Early Modern urban development. By reconstructing the form of Ripa Grande, the study enhances understanding of the interface between city and river, challenging the long-standing assumption that Rome consistently “turned its back on the Tiber” and instead revealing a more complex and reciprocal relationship between the city and its river during the Early Modern period.