L’ex convento Carmelitano della Traspontina: dalla demolizione degli anni Trenta all’edificazione del palazzo S.G.I.R. Spa

Abstract

The Carmelite convent of the Traspontina has been demolished in 1938 during the worksite of the Spina di Borgo. Lot "H", as defined in the cartography of the time, was destined for a building - the current one of the S.G.I.R. Spa – whose prospectus was designed by Marcello Piacentini, who followed the idea of the two previous cloisters.
The story relating to the reconstruction of an accommodation for the Carmelites was complex, which ended only in the Fifties of the last century, when the friars went to live in a building located behind the church dedicated to the Virgin.
Yet, the convent of Traspontina, at least initially, was not destined to be destroyed. From the archival documentation, we know that there were restoration and embellishment works in the last times; not only the Carmelites live there, but there are also rooms occupied by shops and floors reserved for the Station of the Urban Police. It was a historic structure, in which worked three famous architects: Sallustio Peruzzi, Ottavio Mascherino and Carlo Maderno. The historical memory remains, a few black and white photos, some watercolors and certainly two fountains, one coming from inside the convent and placed on the Gianicolo, and the other, located outside, deposited inside the Ardeatino Bastion. This study, based on the analysis of plans, correspondence, handwritten, photographic and graphic documents, reconstructs the last part of the "life" of this Carmelite residence in Rome.