A lecture by Nikolaos Karydis (Kent; BSR).

This lecture explores the development of the Ripa Grande, the main river port of Rome during the Early Modern period. This port was destroyed in the 19th century. The lecture, offers an opportunity to visualise its lost phases on the basis of vedutte drawn from the 15th to the 18th century. Comparative analysis of an unprecedented number of engravings, drawings and paintings and their interpretation by reference to coeval maps will help us to retrace the transformations of the port through time. Reconstructed plans and axonometric drawings make it possible to investigate the spatial organisation of the port and the design principles that informed its remodelling. Reconstruction also provides a closer look to key port buildings, such as the Ospizio di San Michele. The latter will be analyzed within the context of institutional architecture in European river ports. This methodology sheds new light on a highly significant if highly neglected aspect of the urban development of Rome in the Early Modern period.