Borgo

Borgo District

Totila district

Description

Borgo is a very old district of Rome that lies between the Vatican and the Tiber. Its name comes from 'Burg', the German word for fort, which was used by the barbarian leader Totila who took the city from the Romans in just a few days. During the Roman era the land belonged to Agrippina, the mother of Caligula. Nero's Circus was built here and it was considered a strategic point. In 848, Pope Leo IV had the walls of the Vatican city built to create a papal citadel, the "Leonine City". The four main roads of the district - Via Alessandrina, Via Borgo S. Angelo, Via Borgo Vecchio and Via di Santo Spirito - were embellished with small squares and fountains. Churches, monasteries and the hospital di Santo Spirito were built given the religious nature of the area, where the martyrdom of St. Peter and the first Italian Christians took place. It was over Peter's tomb that the most famous basilica in the world was built. Major events modified the appearance of the district: the unification of Italy, and 10 years later the choice of Rome as capital of the new country; and the destruction of the residential blocks between St. Peter's and Castel Sant'Angelo to build the main road that leads to the basilica.