Via Giulia

Julius II commissioned the street from Donato Bramante for three stated purposes: a through route over the medieval lane network, a monumental avenue, and a new administrative and banking centre away from the Capitol. The lungotevere embankments built from 1888 cut the street off from the river and left the garden fronts of the Medici-Clarelli, Sacchetti, Varese and Falconieri palaces facing nothing. Demolitions in the Fascist period opened the gap between via della Barchetta and vicolo delle Prigioni, only partly filled afterwards by the Liceo Virgilio. Palazzo Varese, at nos. 14–21 opposite Santa Caterina da Siena, was built in 1616–18 to a design by Carlo Maderno. In 2008 the street kept its 500th anniversary, and churches and palaces along it were restored and opened.