Historedia
Episode 1 of 3

Breach at Porta Pia

When
20 September 1870
Where
Porta Pia breach, Rome
Part of
Bersaglieri enter Rome at Porta Pia; plebiscite; Rome becomes Italy's capital

Italian forces breached the Aurelian Walls near Porta Pia, allowing Bersaglieri soldiers to enter Rome and end the Papal States' temporal power.

On 20 September 1870, an artillery-opened breach in the wall, known as the Porta Pia breach, allowed Bersaglieri soldiers to enter Rome. This action completed the unification of Italy and ended the Papal States, which had existed since 756.

Sources

  1. Porta Pia Wikipedia, revision of 2026-07-30
  2. Capture of Rome Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-23

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.