Via Nazionale was constructed in the middle of the 19th
century, when Pope Pio IX decided to build a central railroad
station in Rome, to link the city center to the new train station.
De' Merode Cardinal purchased the land around Termini's area and
stared the construction of the first buildings and the first part
of Via Nazionale. After Italy's unification, the city of Rome
completed it by extending the street all the way down to Piazza
Venezia. Via Nazionale follows the ancient outline of Vicus Longus,
a street that once passed between the Viminale and Quirinale Hills
linking Diocletian Baths with the Imperial Forums. This
arterial street was enlarged and connected with Corso Vittorio
Emanuele II, causing the demolition of the attached buildings
included some cultural sites as the Teatro Drammatico Nazionale.
Via Nazionale was the first great street of the new Rome. Its
imposing size and architecture had to show that the small city of
the popes had now become the Italian capital city