The tradition of the Jubilee, though deeply rooted, is relatively recent in the history of the Church. When Boniface VIII proclaimed the first Jubilee in 1300, he likely did not foresee the enormous influx of pilgrims that would transform Rome. Dante himself describes the crowd on the Ponte Sant’Angelo, forced to follow a new direction of movement in order to reach St Peter’s (Inferno, XVIII, 28–33): an early example of how the city had to adapt to hospitality needs by intervening in its circulation system.
Over the centuries, many Jubilees have left extraordinary works: from the construction of Ponte Sisto (1475) to Bernini’s Baldachin for the Jubilee of 1625, from the Fountain of the Four Rivers (1650) to the demolition of the Spina di Borgo to create Via della Conciliazione in 1950.
Each Jubilee has contributed to making Rome more welcoming, more beautiful, more modern. The Jubilee of 2025 likewise endows the city with far reaching interventions and significant urban regeneration projects.
This publication accompanies the inaugural exhibition of the Metropolitan Urban Center—the new urban space dedicated to information, participation, and urban culture—and brings together contributions, images, and texts related to the exhibition design and the contents presented on the occasion of its opening.