Photographing Rome's history: aerial photos of Rome from 1883 to 2010

This aerial photography of Rome traces 127 years of history of the eternal city from a remarkable exhibition that shows how much Rome has changed in this time.
The panoramic take on Rome’s city scape is a collection of photographs from various sources including blimps that flew over the city for the 1911 Expo, civil aeronautical pioneers, the RAF in 1943 and even Rome’s transport association, the ATAC.

The “in volo su Roma” collection of photographs shows how much the capital’s urban landscape has changed with more than 100 flights over the city and subsequent photographs detailing the building of newer areas (Testaccio, Prati, San Saba, Monteverde and Garbatella), growth in the 1970’s and the lastest additions of Porta di Roma and Parco Leonardo.

The photos come from the ICCD (Central Institute for Cataloguing and Documentation) and are curated by Elisabeth J.
Shephered and Elena Tinacci, from two million photographs contained at the Institute.
Photos from 1919 to 2005 are particularly fascinating, showing how Rome’s development exploded in that time, reaching right to Ostia at the sea.
For those interested in the ruins and ancient monuments of Rome, photos from the 1930’s are particularly intriguing, showing the “via dei Fori imperiali” or the imperial forum way taking shape.

Rome’s lifeblood of the Tiber river and the encroaching sea can also be seen, along with the busy transport systems of railways and trams.
Evidence of Rome’s great events can also be seen, marking the the death of the king, the international art exhibition of 1911, the universal Expo of 1942, the Olympics in 1960, the World Cup football in 1990 and the Jubilee of 2000.
See some of the amazing photographs from “In volo su Roma” in our gallery.