From rectilinear road to the cross: the opening of strada Maqueda in Palermo

Authors

  • Maurizio Vesco Università degli Studi di Palermo

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14633/AHR019

Abstract

Strada Maqueda has until the present day been subjected almost exclusively to critical interpretations, which have correctly highlighted its symbolic value, especially with reference to the showing-off of the cross. This is an expression of an increasingly orthodox and extremist Catholicism on an unprecedented urban scale. Little has been said, on the other hand, about issues related to the actual construction of this urban space, to all the gutting that was necessary related to the opening of the building site in the dense, compact area of one of the most important Mediterranean capitals, of a road which is one and a half kilometres long and more than 11 metres wide; in the year 1600, this rectilinear road was an extremely complex urban intervention on the European scene.

This research, with the aid of new archival documentation, aims to focus on the protagonists of this architectural achievement, on the progressive steps taken, the timing and organization of the construction site, as well as the  tools and techniques used to plan the urban space in order to properly lay out the new road through the medieval neighbourhoods.

Keywords: Sicily, Palermo, strada Maqueda, city planning, XVIIth century

Author Biography

Maurizio Vesco, Università degli Studi di Palermo

Dipartimento di Architettura - TD ricercatore

Published

2015-12-27

How to Cite

Vesco, M. (2015). From rectilinear road to the cross: the opening of strada Maqueda in Palermo. ArcHistoR Architecture History Restoration - Architettura Storia Restauro, (4), 4–25. https://doi.org/10.14633/AHR019

Issue

Section

History of Architecture

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