Beginning in 1527 with Rome in ruin, the Pope under self-imposed house-arrest and all of Catholicism under siege, VIA PAPALE: LOST ROAD OF THE POPES tells the story of a lost papal processional route on which 16th century Rome – and the Church itself – made the most profound religious and urban comeback in history.
Fueled by their faith and mission the lives of six powerful Popes and their family dynasties including the Farnese, Peretti, Borghese as well as the Barberini, Pamphilj and Chigi are followed and inspired to create the most magnificent monumental church architecture the world has ever seen. Discover the masterpieces of Michelangelo, Borromini, Bernini and others commissioned along this lost route.
Each Pope had a separate agenda, different allegiances, and individual fortunes, but all had one thing in common: the desire to rebuild the Faith along Rome’s ceremonial papal processional route through the center of the Eternal City, connecting the Vatican to the Lateran known as the Via Papale.
Discover why this once sacred, powerful road has been…forgotten – unmarked on modern maps, unknown to modern Romans
