They ended at Rome the works at Piazza dei Cinquecento, historic entrance of the Rome Termini central station. The project is part of a large redevelopment plan that involves the area surrounding the station, for a total surface area of 8 hectares, equal to 8 football fields. The works required a total investment of 45 million euro. The new area of Piazza dei Cinquecento, which includes a new bus terminal and a new pedestrian area, absorbed almost half of the entire project's budget: 21 million euros.
The inauguration ceremony today was attended by the mayor of Rome and the Government's extraordinary commissioner for the Jubilee 2025, Roberto Gualtieri, the undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano and the managing director of the FS group, Antonio Donnaruma.
The redevelopment project of Piazza dei Cinquecento: the details
The redevelopment project, conducted by Anas of the Fs group, began a year and a half ago. During the inauguration of the square, Mayor Gualtieri declared that the works are 85% complete. A first part of the project, which includes the area of Piazza della Repubblica, via Cernaria and viale de Nicola, was inaugurated last December 22, with an investment of 16 million euro on a surface area of 13 thousand square meters.
Today the entrance area to Termini station was opened to the public, with a new bus terminal, operational from tomorrow at dawn, a taxi dock and 5 square meters of marble pedestrian areas. The project will be completed in the summer of 2025, ahead of the deadline, initially scheduled for 2026, as underlined by Mayor Gualtieri. The mayor attributed the speed of the work to the “Jubilee method” and the involvement of six companies, which worked on three alternating shifts.
Redeveloping Roma Termini: the challenges and objectives of the project
During the event, Gualtieri declared: «This square must not only be a place of transit, but a real Rome's gate, which welcomes pilgrims and tourists in the heart of the city". The aim is to enhance the historical and archaeological heritage surrounding the station. The intervention involved the use of high-quality materials on a total surface area of 80 thousand square meters, which include 30 thousand square meters of marble and stone, 20 thousand square meters of cobblestones, 10 thousand square meters of architectural concrete, 10 thousand square meters of new green areas and 6 thousand square meters of asphalt. The project encountered several obstacles, including the impossibility of creating large green areas due to the subway below Piazzale dei Cinquecento. In addition, work in Piazza della Repubblica was temporarily interrupted due to archaeological discoveries of the nineteenth-century customs house. Despite these unforeseen events, the work was completed within the timeframe expected for the capital.
During the event, Undersecretary Mantovano recalled that the first project for the redevelopment of Piazza dei Cinquecento was conceived for the Jubilee of 1925 and completed for the one in 1950. The Undersecretary then remarked that, to obtain works of this quality, completed in a short time, a European capital like Rome should not wait for the Pope to begin a new Jubilee.