Amazing Rome

 

 

ARA PACIS

 

This altar was commissioned by the Senate in 13 BC to celebrate the peace established by Augustus returning from campaigns in Gaul and Spain. Buried under alluvial sediments of the Tiber, it was found only in the sixteenth century under a building in the Campus Martius, and was subsequently brought to light in fragments. The extraordinary relief decorations that adorn this monument, a masterpiece of Augustan art, allude to a return to the golden age brought by the advent of Augustus.

 

 

 

MAUSOLEUM OF AUGUSTUS

 

The mausoleum has a circular form and was built on the model of one of Alexander the Great’s mausoleums, which Augustus saw in Egypt, and on the model of Etruscan tombs. The Mausoleum of Augustus was surrounded by pine trees and surmounted by a large statue of Augustus. This monumental mausoleum was the burial place of members of the imperial family for the entire first century.

 

 

 

COLUMN OF MARCUS AURELIUS

 

Piazza Colonna is named for the marble column of Marcus Aurelius which has stood there since 193 AD. The Column is a victory column featuring a spiral relief: it was built in honour of Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius and modeled on Trajan's Column. The spiral relief tells the story of Marcus Aurelius’s Danubian or Marcomannic wars. Through the depiction of the military campaigns, the column celebrates the virtues of the emperor and the supremacy of the Roman army.

 

 

 

HADRIAN’S TEMPLE

 

Hadrian’s Temple is dedicated to the deified Hadrian, built by his adoptive son and successor Antoninus Pius in 145 AD. In 1696, during the pontificate of Pope Innocent XII, the surviving part of the temple (one wall of the cella together with 11 of the 15-metre-high Corinthian columns) was incorporated into a large building designed by Carlo Fontana to house the central Customs Office for goods which reached Rome by land. The building is now occupied by the Borsa bank.

 

 

 

PANTHEON

 

The Pantheon is one of the best-preserved of all ancient Roman buildings. It was commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus and rebuilt by the emperor Hadrian. It has been in continuous use throughout its history, and since the 7th century, the Pantheon has been used as a Roman Catholic church dedicated to St. Mary and the Martyrs. The epitome of the constructive genius of the Romans, the dome is a miracle of harmony and technique because it's a perfect half-sphere inscribed in a cylinder and it is one meter larger than the dome of St. Peter’s!

 

 

 

SACRED HOLY AREA IN LARGO ARGENTINA      

 

During demolition work in 1927, the archaeological investigation brought to light one of the most important archaeological sites of ancient Rome: a holy area, dating to the Republican era, with four temples and part of Pompey's Theater. In 44 BC the great Julius Caesar died in the Curia of the Theatre of Pompey, and the spot the dictator was believed to be assassinated is here, where he was stabbed 23 times!

 

 

 

PIAZZA NAVONA

 

The world-famous square has a unique shape, because it is built on the site of an ancient stadium: the stadium of Domitian, commissioned by the emperor Domitianus as a gift to the people of Rome, which was used mostly for athletic contests. The square was transformed into a highly significant example of Baroque Roman architecture and art during the 17th century. It features important sculptural and architectural creations such as the amazing Fountain of the Four Rivers by Bernini and the Church of St. Agnese in Agone by Borromini.

 

 

 

CASTLE OF THE HOLY ANGEL

Hadrian’s Mausoleum, usually known as the Castle of the Holy Angel, is a towering cylindrical building initially commissioned by the Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. In the 5th century, the building was included in the Aurelian Walls and used by the popes as a military fortress and then as castle. The castle was once the tallest building in Rome.