Old photos · Italy
Old photos of Rome
Photographed early and often: almost one in five of Rome's photographs in the archive is from the nineteenth century, starting with a view over the Forum from 1841.
Time Portal's archive holds about 7,000 photographs of Rome (Roma), taken between 1841 and 2000, each pinned to the spot where the photographer stood. 43% of them date from 1955 or later and are free to browse at map.timeportal.app with no account; the older ones open with Pro. The oldest, dated 1841 in the archive, shows the Roman Forum seen from the Capitoline Hill, with the Colosseum in the distance.
- Photographs
- 7,000
- Oldest
- 1841
- Busiest decade
- 1960s
- Free, 1955 on
- 43%
How many photographs, decade by decade
The busiest decades for Rome are the 1960s and the 1950s — 1,104 and 982 photographs. 1,321 were taken before 1900. Everything from 1955 onward is free to open on the map; the older photographs are part of Pro.
| Decade | Relative size | Photographs |
|---|---|---|
| before 1860 | 267 | |
| 1860s | 309 | |
| 1870s | 188 | |
| 1880s | 287 | |
| 1890s | 270 | |
| 1900s | 362 | |
| 1910s | 153 | |
| 1920s | 315 | |
| 1930s | 564 | |
| 1940s | 818 | |
| 1950s | 982 | |
| 1960s | 1,104 | |
| 1970s | 727 | |
| 1980s | 427 | |
| 1990s | 176 |
Where the photographs were taken
Counted in a small square around each place — about 200 metres each way — so a number is every photograph taken there, of the place itself or of the street beside it. Each place opens the map on that spot.
| Place | Photos | Oldest |
|---|---|---|
| The Colosseum | 341 | 1846 |
| St Peter's Square | 533 | 1842 |
| Piazza Venezia | 384 | 1883–1885 |
| The Trevi Fountain | 101 | 1848–1852 |
| The Pantheon | 132 | 1857 |
| The Spanish Steps | 268 | 1848–1850 |
What changed
Rome drew the first travelling photographers for its ruins, and the archive's Rome begins with them. The biggest changes came after 1870, when the city became the capital of Italy: the Tiber was walled in by high embankments, and the white Vittoriano rose over Piazza Venezia from 1885.
In the 1930s Mussolini's Via dell'Impero was driven through the old quarters between Piazza Venezia and the Colosseum, over the ancient forums.
Questions about old photos of Rome
Where can I see old photos of Rome on a map?
On Time Portal: about 7,000 photographs of Rome, each pinned where it was taken, most with the direction the camera faced. The map is free in any browser at map.timeportal.app — photographs from 1955 on need no account — and there is an app for iPhone and iPad.
What is the oldest photograph of Rome in the archive?
The oldest precisely dated photograph, from 1841, shows the Roman Forum seen from the Capitoline Hill, with the Colosseum in the distance. 1,321 of the Rome photographs were taken before 1900.
Which years of Rome are best covered?
The 1960s, with 1,104 photographs, and the 1950s, with 982. 43% of the Rome photographs date from 1955 or later.
Open Rome on the map
Other cities: Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kyiv, New York, Berlin, Paris, Prague, Tbilisi, Odesa, Riga, London. Or search any address on the map, or in the app.
The counts on this page are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 — credit Time Portal and link here. The photographs are not ours to license: they belong to their photographers and the archives that keep them.