The Via della Conciliazione with St. Peter’s Basilica in the background is one of Rome’s most famous images. But few realize that this street has not always been there and, in fact, it should not be there. Michelangelo, who designed the dome of St. Peter’s, and Bernini, the colonnade’s architect, had envisioned a surprise effect on pilgrims emerging onto St. Peter’s Square from the labyrinthine streets of the adjacent neighborhood. The situation changed only in the 1930s when Benito Mussolini forged a treaty with the Holy See, leading to the birth of the Vatican City, the smallest state in the world. To commemorate the reconciliation between the Italian State and the Holy See, the Via della Conciliazione was created. Using archival film and interviews with the last living eyewitnesses, this film relates the story of an architectural project that had enormous impact on the history, religion and lives of the people of Rome.  The film is 52 minutes long and will be shown on Monday, April 10 at 7 p.m. at the Strosacker Auditorium on the Case Western Reserve campus. Admission is free.   

Additional films include:

Andrea Doria’s
“Are the Passengers Saved?”
April 12, 7 p.m.,
CWRU Strosacker Auditorium

“Italo”
  April 19, 7 p.m.,
CWRU Strosacker Auditorium

“Un Paesea quasi Perfetto”
(“An Almost Perfect Town”)
 April 21, 7 p.m., Tri-C Black Box Theatre, Room MCCA 107

 “La Stoffa dei Sogni”
(“Stuff of Dreams”)
April 21, 9 p.m.,
Tri-C Black Box Theatre

All films are shown in original language with English subtitles. The films are sponsored by Chicago Italian Cultural Institute in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University’s Film Society, Dept. of Modern Languages & Literatures program in Italian and Cuyahoga Community College Metro Campus.