Popes with increased vigor undertook the work of beautifying the city. Works by Renaissance artists were created in Rome, such as Bramante, Rafael and Michelangelo, who have been creating here for most of their lives. The reign of Julius II and Leo X was a kind of golden age for the city, which has become the artistic and cultural capital of Italy. At that time, masterpieces of art were created, such as the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, Stanze Raphael in the Vatican Palace and beautiful palaces, m.in. Villa Famesina, Palazzo Famese or Spada, not to mention the design of the new St.. Peter and many other churches. It all ended abruptly in 1527 r., when the troops of Emperor Charles V invaded the city, causing enormous damage. The occupation lasted a year, and Pope Clement VII trembled with fear in Castel Sant'Angelo (Sant'Angelo castel).
In the following years there was a period of reconstruction, and perhaps this is why the seventeenth century had the greatest impact on today's face of Rome.. At the time, for Paul V., St.. Peter, and Piętro Bernini became the chief architect and sculptor of the city under Pope Urban VIII. Thanks to the counter-reformation fervor, such enormous and impressive buildings as the Church of II Gesu were created, which was supposed to counteract the skepticism born in philosophical thought. Lots of exotic fountains, numerous churches and palaces date back to the baroque era.
In the eighteenth century, the papacy fell as a political force. This was highlighted by Napoleon's seizure of the city in 1798 r. Pius VI was then unceremoniously transported to France as a prisoner, and Napoleon proclaimed another Roman republic, which survived until the Pope was restored in 1815 r. 34 years later, the pro-unification revolutionary movement led by Mazzini again proclaimed the Roman a republic, but soon Mazzini was banished. W 1870 r. Garibaldi stormed the city into a united country. It was the last, but symbolically the most important part of the Garibaldi peninsula. His slogan was "Roma o morte". After conquering the city, he immediately declared it the capital of the new kingdom, and the sphere of influence of the powerless Pius IX, until the methods of coexistence are developed, confined to the Vatican.
In the concordat contained in 1929 r. The Vatican was declared sovereign, territory independent of Italy. It also includes the main papal basilicas and palaces in the area of Rome, to this day formally remaining outside the Italian state. Rome was (and some say, that it still is) completely unprepared for the role of a modern European capital. The Piedmontese rulers of the united kingdom began building the city, from which you can rule, paving new streets in the heart of the city (via Nazionale, via del Tritone) and by erecting monumental structures like the Altar of the Fatherland. Similar motives followed 50 years later to Mussolini, which demolished part of the Roman forum and for propaganda purposes started the futuristic expansion of the city district called EUR.
After the war, Rome grew mainly upwards. The population has reached four million, and the city center has become a victim of increasing traffic. This problem is particularly acute in the centro storico, and the damage caused to the historic substance by the poisoned air has reached alarming proportions. Municipal authorities are trying to protect buildings and columns with nets or scaffolding, but took no decisive action. Poverty is also rampant in some neighborhoods, and peripheral estates struggle to provide housing for a rapidly growing population, while defending itself against alienation and violence, which plague other European capitals. In the 1960s, Rome was viewed through the prism of the fate of the heroes of Dolce Vito Fellini and the Italian golden youth, but over the next two decades the avant-garde moved north. However, after the reconstruction in connection with the World Cup in 1990 r. the city has a chance to enter a more favorable phase of its history.