Lővei Pál szerk.: Horler Miklós Hetvenedik születésnapjára Tanulmányok (Művészettörténet - műemlékvédelem 4. Országos Műemlékvédelmi Hivatal, 1993)

Merényi Ferenc: Három olasz főváros: Torino, Firenze, Róma-1861, 1865, 1871

Three Italian Capitals: Turin, Florence Rome 1861, 1865, 1871 Ferenc Merényi After several decades of antecedents, the proclamation of the Italian Kingdom took eventually place in the spring of 1861 in Turin; this is where the first Italian Parliament held its sessions until 1865, when the rank of capital city was transferred to Florence. In 1870 the royal army finally marched into Rome and so it became tha ultimate capital of the country. This study examines to what extent Italian architecture was able to respond, in the second half of the last century, to the requirements it was confronted with as a consequence of these three cities becoming capitals consecutively and in a short period of time. The least problematic position was that of Turin, since it had functioned as a capital of the Sardinian-Piemont Kingdom since as early as the sixteenth century. At the time, with its rectangular-net system of streets, often complete with arcades, and with its magnificent public buildings it was considered to be one of Europe's most modern cities. For the people of Turin therefore it was a great shock when Florence was endowed with the title of capital, practically overnight. After this, the city had to be transformed from a representative- and serviceindustrial centre into a large industrial one. The town-development plan, which was completed in 1864, ensured the expansion of industry, but it did not make it possible for the chess-board-like fabric of the city to connect organically to the already existing radiate one. The prevailing of the specific interests of suburban districts led to a chaotic mix of residential-building- and industrialplant-construction. Eventually, in the last three decades of the ninetenth century, Turin developped into one of the most significant - if not the most significant industrial cities of the country. From among the work of local arachitects active at the time stands out that of Alessandro Antonelli, who, with his daringly structured buildings, can be regarded as a link between the great baroque innovators of structure and the Italian designer-architects of the twentieth century. When Florence was made capital of the country in 1865, the „enlargement" of the city became necessary, also because of the arrival of numerous civil servants. According to the town-development plan by Giuseppe Poggi (1865), the city walls were demolished and, if necessary, the territories for the construction of new city-quarters were guaranteed through land-expropriation. The larger part of the often too radical inner-city demolitions and constructions was also carried out according to Poggi's plans, including the Viole dei Colli route, with its Piazzale Michelangelo square, providing a matchless panorama. In respect of the „dressing up" of the main facade of the Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral, the study analyses in detail also the theoretical problems related to such enterprises. In Rome, immediately after the seizure of the city, a committee of 11 - presided by Pietro Camporesi, architect of great renown - was set up to elaborate an urbanistic master-plan which would determine the course of development of the capital. The town-development plan, completed in 1873, indicated as the main tendencies of development the Castro Pretoria, at the time unbuilt, and the loosely