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Tor San Michele

Address

Address: Via Degli Atlantici, 12
Zone: Quartiere Lido di Ostia Ponente (Roma sud)

Contacts

Opening times

Temporarily closed for restoration

Description

The flooding of the Tiber in 1557 brought about a considerable change in the conditions of the territory, shifting the course of the river to the north and causing the coast near the delta to advance by more than a kilometre. The local defence system suffered considerable damage, which led to the decline of Julius II's fortress, which was too far from the river and therefore no longer able to fulfil its customs functions. In those years, the fear of pirate raids was so great that Pope Pius IV commissioned the architect Francesco Laparelli to revise the entire coastal defence system. The role of fortified defence of the Tiber was therefore taken over by the medieval Tor Boacciana, one of the most important coastal lookouts in the area, while waiting for the construction of the Tor San Michele keep at the Ostia seaplane port.
The construction of the structure, designed by Michelangelo Buonarroti, began in 1559 and was completed in 1568, during the pontificate of Pius V, by Giovanni Lippi, who took over from Michelangelo after his death.
 
The octagonal building has a height of 18 metres and a perimeter of 96 metres. It is completely casemate and on three levels, each with eight cross-vaulted rooms. It was originally surrounded by a moat with a double system of drawbridges.
The peculiarity of the tower is the terrace, the seat of the parade ground, whose massive projecting cornice is supported by masonry corbels. The paving of this terrace is oblique, to allow better flow of incendiary bullets, and boasts a circular opening with a diameter of eight metres. The structure has undergone various restorations over the years. In 1930 windows were added to the outer walls.
Used as a lighthouse for a long time, it was occupied by the Germans and later by the Americans during World War II.

In 1892 it became part of the artistic buildings on behalf of the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Ostia Antica. Since 1994 it has been handed over to the Soprintendenza per i Beni Ambientali e Architettonici di Roma. Tor S. Michele, included in sheet 1082 of the Nuovo Catasto Edilizio Urbano (New Urban Building Register), is a state-owned property of important interest under Law 1089/39 on the protection of things of historical and artistic interest.

Last checked: 2024-01-18 14:45
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