The Area Sacra – 'sacred zone' – of ancient Rome is now open to the public

The 'Area Sacra', in the heart of Rome a stone's throw from Piazza Venezia and Piazza Navona, is best known for the cat colony that is traditionally maintained there by animal-friendly older ladies, known as the gattare.

Cat colony

The one wandering through the ruins cats – currently there are 93 – are still a valuable object for photos and calendars, but the archaeological remains were not particularly interesting until recently.

You could view the excavations from above the Via Florida and the Largo di Torre Argentina, but you did not get more than a vague impression of the complex and the even vaguer notion that Julius Caesar met a violent end here somewhere.

That's different now. After years of work by the Sovrintendenza Capitolina, the body that manages Rome's cultural heritage, and with a large contribution from the Bulgari jewelry house, the 'sacred zone' has been opened to the public.

Visitors now walk along the temple remains via walkways and exhibition spaces have been set up under the streets next to the archaeological square. (The Via di S. Nicola dei Cesarini and the Via di Torre Argentina, to be precise.)

Exposed in the 20s

The Area Sacra was uncovered in the 20s, when the fascist regime was busy demolishing buildings from the 'dark' Middle Ages to make way for remains of the glorious Roman Empire (particularly in the Forum). and wide boulevards such as the Via della Conciliazione leading to the Vatican.

On the block of houses now known as the Area Sacra, the main road had to be widened and modernized palaces built. But in 1926 it emerged that among the medieval dwellings were the remains of 4 temples that formed the religious center of the Campus Martius (Campo Marzio or Field of Mars) district in the north of ancient Rome.

The excavators were stopped and archaeologists were put to work. Things were quite rough, as the work had to be completed before April 21 (day of the mythical founding of Rome) 1929, when Mussolini personally presented the excavations.

Much of the excavated material has therefore disappeared, while other remains ended up in the cellars of the Sovrintendenza and now adorn the two new exhibition galleries. It is interesting that this concerns not only remains from antiquity, but also from the 2^e in 12^e century. At that time there was a church on the Area Sacra, the Chiesa di San Nicola ai Cesarini, above which in the 17^e century a final version was built which in turn ended up under the demolition hammer in 1926-29.

The exhibition gallery now features hexagonal floor tiles from the medieval church for which the backs of ancient marble reliefs were used.

Four temples

The 4 temples were built in the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC. and abandoned again somewhere in the 5^e century AD, with the rise of Christianity and the fall of the Empire.

Because it was initially unknown to whom they were dedicated, they were given the unimaginative names Temple A, B, C and D. Nowadays more is known about this.

Temple A, next to Largo Torre Argentina, was probably built as a thank you for a victory over Carthage in 241 BC. The columns on the left and right are still partly standing, as is the apse of the church that was built on the ruins in the Middle Ages.

A wide marble staircase gives access to Temple B, with a characteristic round shape, dedicated by consul Quintus Lutatius Cutulus to the goddess Fortuna after a victory over the Cimbri tribe in 101 BC.

Temple C was dedicated by consul Aulus Postumius Albinus to the Sabine goddess Feronia after the plague epidemic of 142 BC.

Temple D dates from the beginning of the 2^e century BC and has been largely excavated under the current Via Florida.

Other buildings

The recent cleaning also exposed large areas of clear pavement in front of the temples. Between Temples B and C you look out on the blocks of tuff that formed the basis of the Curia of Pompeus, the room at the front of the Theater of the general politician Gnaeus Pompeus Magnus, of which some columns can still be seen in the nearby Via dei Giubbonari to see.

In this Curia Caesar was captured by a group of conspirators murdered on the infamous March 15 of 44 BC Idus Martiae.

Due to the removal of later buildings, the 14^e century Torre del Papito was uncovered, a symbol of power of one of the families that ruled Rome at the time. In the loggia next to it, which dates from the XNUMXs, now houses capitals from the demolished church built on Temple A.

In addition to the Torre del Papito, there is also a Torre Argentina, which gave its name to the surrounding roads and the urban theater opposite the Area Sacra. The name Argentina of course has nothing to do with Argentina, which had not yet been discovered, but also not with argentum, silver.

This is derived from the Latin name of Strasbourg, Argentoratum, the home town of Bishop Johannes Burckardt, master of ceremonies for Borgia Pope Alexander VI.

The prelate lived in one around 1500 Palazzo in the adjacent Via del Sudario, of which the tower - now enclosed by later buildings - was part of.

Practical information Area Sacra

• Sacred Area of ​​Largo Argentina 
• Opening hours: 9.30:19.00 AM – 9.30:16.00 PM (summer time), XNUMX:XNUMX AM – XNUMX:XNUMX PM (winter time)
• Entrance Via di San Nicola de' Cesarini, to no. 10
• Ticket sales in the Torre del Papito; €5 p.p.; with discount €4, 1st Sunday of the month free