Leonine Wall
The Leonine Wall is a medieval fortification that encompassed the Roman district of Borgo and much of the Vatican City . Remains of the wall can be found in the western part of the small state in Rome on the Vatican Hill within the Vatican Gardens . The Leonine Wall no longer forms the outer boundary of the Vatican City; it lies within the current city wall.
The wall was built between 847 and 852, when the Vatican was still outside the ancient Aurelian city wall of Rome, under the rule of Pope Leo IV (790-855). It was supposed to protect against further attacks by the Saracens , who looted the church treasures in front of the city wall in 846. A Carolingian special tax subsequently financed the construction of the new city wall.
The area within the walls is known as Leostadt .
literature
- Ferdinand Gregorovius : History of the city of Rome in the Middle Ages. From V. to XVI. Century . 2nd edition Beck, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-406-07107-4 .
- Silvia Montanari: Leonine Wall. Protection from Saracens and other enemies (The city walls of Rome; 11). In: L'Osservatore Romano , Vol. 35 (2005), p. 5, ISSN 0179-7387 .
- John-Peter Pham: Heirs of the fisherman. Behind the scenes of papal death and succession . University Press, Oxford 2004, ISBN 0-19-517834-3 .
Individual evidence
- ^ Italian Touring Club : Guida Rossa, Roma. Milan 2013, ISBN 8-83-656192-6 , p. 627
- ^ Barbara Kreutz: Before the Normans: Southern Italy in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries , University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996, p. 28, ISBN 978-0812215878
Web links
- Vatican Wall and Leonine Wall (with floor plan and history) on burgenwelt.org