The most known Earthquakes in Rome

Did you know that there have been very few earthquakes in Rome, but for its monuments, these have always been the cause of problems?

The first earthquake in Rome, of which we have certain information, was the one that took place in 461 BC which is also described by Tito Livio in which he tells how many temples and buildings of ancient Rome had suffered damage.

In the times many columns and buildings collapsed just because of the movements of the earth.

 

Among these also the Colosseum that had been built, in the southern area, on a depression that housed one of the many left tributaries of the Tiber called Fosso Labicano.

 

This is one of the reasons why earthquakes over time will create various damages.

 

The most devastating earthquake is the one of 851 responsible for the collapse of two orders of arches on the south side, where the current height reaches 48.5 meters and originally reached 52.

 

Since then the Colosseum assumes the asymmetrical appearance we can still see today.
For 500 years at each small shock the amphitheater suffers damage more or less severe.

 

In 1349 a new earthquake, the effects of which were described, among others, by Francesco Petrarch, damaged various portions of the monument in small parts, while that of January 14, 1703 led to the collapse of three arches of the second order.

 

All these damages led the Colosseum to become a quarry for material.
Its rubble, but also the marble and some structures, were used to build the new palaces of papal Rome, including Palazzo Barberini.

 

No restoration work was carried out to repair the damage until the time of Pope Pius VII, who in the early 800s began a long process of maintenance that affects the entire amphitheater.

 

The construction of the support towards the east was carried out, which was completed in 1807, while under Leo XII in 1826 the one on the western side was finished.

 

Earthquakes in Rome also damaged the first St. Peter’s Basilica built in 324 AD by Emperor Constantine.
This too was partly built on the sedimentary ground of the Circus of Caligula, later completed by Nero, an area chosen because in the adjacent necropolis it seems that St. Peter had been buried.

 

The ancient church was damaged during the various earthquakes (but also because of the barbarian invasions) that struck Rome.

 

The bell tower and the facade suffered catastrophic consequences during the earthquake of 1349, the one that damaged in a less important way the Colosseum.

 

After a few years, the Basilica became so unsafe that Pope Gregory XI, upon his return from Avignon in 1377, was forced to intervene to put the first props to the church.

 

However, another 200 years passed before Julius II proceeded to demolish the previous one and build the new St. Peter’s Basilica.