On 25 February 1863,
Pope Pius IX opened the first, temporary Termini Station as the terminus of the
Rome–Frascati,
Rome–Civitavecchia and Rome-
Ceprano lines. The first two lines previously had separate stations elsewhere in the city, and, as the third line was under development, the city chose to build one central station, as opposed to the
Paris model of having separate terminus stations for each line or each direction. The dilapidated Villa Montalto-Peretti, erected in the 16th century by
Pope Sixtus V, was chosen as the site for this new station, which was to be called the "Stazione Centrale delle Ferrovie Romane" (Central Station of Roman Railways). Construction of the permanent station began in 1868, in the last years of the Papal
Temporal Power over the city of Rome, and was completed in 1874 after the
Capture of Rome and installing of the government of
United Italy. It was laid out according to a plan by the architect
Salvatore Bianchi. The front of this station reached
Via Cavour, which means it extended some deeper into the city than the current station. In 1937, it was decided to replace the old station, as part of the planning for the
1942 World's Fair, which was never held because of the outbreak of
World War II. The old station was demolished, and part of the new station was constructed, but in 1943, upon the collapse of the
Italian fascist government, works were halted. The side structures of the design by
Angiolo Mazzoni still form part of the present-day station. ==The station building today==