Conserving an Entire City

On my recent trip to Rome, I discovered a city which has left every architectural footprint of bygone eras intact- Rome. Rome is one of the rare cities in the world where the entire city's architecture is preserved. From early Roman to Renaissance to Baroque and Rococo, every early architectural movement left it's traces in Rome and the beauty of the city in present times lies in the way the people of Rome have dedicated themselves to preserving every square inch of architectural gem, irrespective of which buildings are 'important' in terms of socio-political context.

Now, I am no historian, which means that I may be wrong, but I have reason to believe that the excellent state of preservation in Rome may have something to do with the fact that a city like Rome has seen less invasion and pillaging than, say, the Indian subcontinent. Also, it's history dates back to thousands of years ago, a time when places like the Americas were still unknown and sparsely populated. The Roman civilization was a modern one for it's time and of course, it's people understood the value of architecture.

The Trevi Fountain, which was in a state of refurbishment during my visit

Here's what's unique about conservation in Rome- a lot of the buildings that have been preserved are not particularly famous. Many of them are residential and house ordinary people like you and me. In any other city in the world, one might question ,"What's the need to preserve that crumbling old building?", but Romans don't question the need in terms of the context of the building. They see the conservation of architecture as just that, not as the conservation of symbols of especially important historical events. This is stark contrast to European cities like Paris and Florence, where modern architecture is superimposed upon architecture from olden times.

Needless to say, I loved Rome. It's definitely every conservation architects dream. Now that I'm done praising it and exploring the psycho-socio-political aspects of conservation efforts, let's get down to the real stuff.

There's no way we can talk about preservation in Rome without mentioning Gustavo Giovannoni, who is regarded as one of the fathers of modern conservation theory. First of all, he believed that urban design and conservation must go hand-in-hand. Quite often, in Rome, you come across traffic island which are remnants of the past, which basically means that roads were designed around them, instead of demolishing them for the sake of infrastucture. The historical significanc of many of these is not always clear, but their existence adds to the old-world charm of the city, without which Rome wouldn't enjoy the reputation it does.

Another thing Givannoni advocated was the need preserve not only individual architectural landmarks, but more importantly, the settings in which these monuments are placed, the 'minor architecture' that provides the physical, historical, and cultural context in which these monuments must be understood.

Now that's the theory behind the conservation of Rome. Let's move on to notable buildings.

The Pantheon is in an excellent state of preservation. A lot of laymen don't know that the architecture in Rome cannot always be classified as 'Roman'. Of all the buildings that fall under the category of 'Roman' architecture, the Pantheon is arguably the most famous and widely studied. 



For architecture students, it might come as a shock that the temple now functions as a Christian church, as we know it to be a temple wherein light from the oculus illuminated the niches housing idols of several deities, but history tells us that it was dedicated to Santa Maria during the Byzantine area. 

The oculus illuminating the niches

The Christianization of the Pantheon

The Pantheon can be difficult to photograph as it faces north.

Most of the Pantheon remains intact. In fact the exterior appears to be more weathered than the exterior. It is surrounded by buildings from various areas, and standing in front of it, you can get a glimpse of thousands of years of history.

While exploring the historical centre of Rome, I was lost in the beauty of arrow allies and beautiful bridges connecting houses and it reminded me of Benares. But that brings me to another important point about conservation. Benares may have existed for five thousand years, but it's facilities for tourists are far inferior to that of Rome's. Cleanliness is an issue in Benares, and streets full of cow dung may honestly not be everybody's cup of tea, in spite of the beauty of Benarasi streets. While conserving buildings, there should also be a focus on developing infrastructure so more people can enjoy them. What India needs to understand now is that conservation and development do go hand in hand.

So...that's my experience in Rome. I'll be back soon, with more on my European observations. And if you have something to add to this post, feel free to leave it in the comments section.