Via della Conciliazione

Via della Conciliazione

A view from ground level of the Via della Conciliazione. Note that the dome of the Basilica is not centered, as Piacentini chose instead to centre on the obelisk, which had been moved on the orders of Sixtus V.
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Location	Rome, Italy
Coordinates	41°54′08.28″N 12°27′43.20″E / 41.9023000°N 12.4620000°E / 41.9023000; 12.4620000

Via della Conciliazione (Road of the Conciliation^[1]) is a street in the Rione of Borgo within Rome, Italy. Roughly 500 metres (1,600 ft) in length,^[2] it connects Saint Peter's Square to the Castel Sant'Angelo on the western bank of the Tiber River. The road was constructed between 1936 and 1950, and it is the primary access route to the Square. In addition to shops, it is bordered by a number of historical and religious buildings – including the Palazzo Torlonia, the Palazzo dei Penitenzieri and the Palazzo dei Convertendi, and the churches of Santa Maria in Traspontina and Santo Spirito in Sassia.

Despite being one of the few major thoroughfares in Rome able to cope with a high volume of traffic without congestion,^[3] it is the subject of much ire both within the Roman community and among historical scholars due to the circumstances under which it was constructed.^[4][5] The area around the church was rebuilt several times following the various Sacks of Rome, and again after having deteriorated due to the loss of prosperity resulting from the Papacy's relocation to Avignon during the 14th century. Through all of these reconstructions, the area in front of the short courtyard of Saint Peter's Basilica remained a maze of densely packed structures overhanging narrow side-streets and alleyways.