In the middle of the XVI century the pope Pius V would have liked to banish the prostitutes from the eternal city, but this proved impracticable.
He tried to isolate them in a restricted area of their own near Ripetta, rome's harbor area.
The pope Sixtus V, coping again with the problem, orderedn the cortigiane off the main streets of the city and forbade then to go abroad after Ave Maria, at sunset.
He tried to isolate them in a restricted area of their own near Ripetta, rome's harbor area.
The pope Sixtus V, coping again with the problem, orderedn the cortigiane off the main streets of the city and forbade then to go abroad after Ave Maria, at sunset.
The number of prostitutes at the very end if the XVI have
been estimated in 13.000.
This figure came from an estimate of 1591 and is very
doubtful.
The 1600 census reports that the total roman inhabitants were 109.729, of which 46.596 were women.
This means there were 63.133 men, a surplus that was typical of Rome, with its large male-dominated ecclesiastical sector.
For example: back then, 40 of the seventy cardinals lived in Rome and use to have a large number of servant - lackeys, coachmen, cooks, secretaries ecc-, all men, that coud be up to a hundred people.
The presence of all these males, most of them unmarried, explain partially the presence of so many prostitutes in Rome.
been estimated in 13.000.
This figure came from an estimate of 1591 and is very
doubtful.
The 1600 census reports that the total roman inhabitants were 109.729, of which 46.596 were women.
This means there were 63.133 men, a surplus that was typical of Rome, with its large male-dominated ecclesiastical sector.
For example: back then, 40 of the seventy cardinals lived in Rome and use to have a large number of servant - lackeys, coachmen, cooks, secretaries ecc-, all men, that coud be up to a hundred people.
The presence of all these males, most of them unmarried, explain partially the presence of so many prostitutes in Rome.
