Largo di Torre Argentina is a square in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, with four

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Ki ...

an temples and the remains of

Pompey's Theatre The Theatre of Pompey ( la, Theatrum Pompeii, it, Teatro di Pompeo) was a structure in Ancient Rome built during the latter part of the Roman Republican era by Pompey the Great (Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus). Completed in 55BC, it was the first per ...

. It is in the ancient

Campus Martius The Campus Martius (Latin for the "Field of Mars", Italian ''Campo Marzio'') was a publicly owned area of ancient Rome about in extent. In the Middle Ages, it was the most populous area of Rome. The IV rione of Rome, Campo Marzio, which cove ...

. The name of the square comes from the ''Torre Argentina'', which takes its name from the city of

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the ...

whose Latin name was ''

Argentoratum Argentoratum or Argentorate was the ancient name of the city of Strasbourg. The name was first mentioned in 12 BC, when it was a Roman military outpost established by Nero Claudius Drusus. From 90 AD the Legio VIII Augusta was permanently stati ...

''. In 1503, the Papal Master of Ceremonies Johannes Burckardt, who came from Strasbourg and was known as "Argentinus", built in ''via del Sudario'' a palace (now at number 44), called ''Casa del Burcardo'', to which the tower is annexed.

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

was

assassinated Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

in the

Curia of Pompey The Curia of Pompey, sometimes referred to as the ''Curia Pompeia'', was one of several named meeting halls from Republican Rome of historic significance. A ''curia'' was a designated structure for meetings of the senate. The Curia of Pompey was ...

, and the spot where he is believed to have been assassinated is in the square. After

Italian unification The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...

, it was decided to reconstruct part of Rome (1909), demolishing the zone of Torre Argentina. However, during the demolition work in 1927, the colossal head and arms of a marble statue were discovered. The archaeological investigation brought to light the presence of a ''holy area'', dating to the Republican era, with four temples and part of Pompey's Theatre. In 2019, Rome's mayor

Virginia Raggi Virginia Elena Raggi (; born 18 July 1978) is an Italian lawyer and politician who served as Mayor of Rome from 2016 to 2021 as part of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S). Raggi was both the first candidate from her party and first ...

announced that walkways would be installed in the site allowing the general public to tour the ruins for the first time.

Roman temples

The four temples, originally designated by the letters ''A'', ''B'', ''C'', and ''D'', front onto a paved street, which was reconstructed in the imperial era, after the fire of AD 80. The area was delineated to the North by the ''Hecatostylum'' (one-hundred columns porch) and the

Baths of Agrippa The Baths of Agrippa (Latin: Thermae Agrippae) was a structure of ancient Rome, in what is now Italy, built by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. It was the first of the great thermae constructed in the city, and also the first public bath. History In th ...

, and to the South by the buildings related to the

Circus Flaminius The Circus Flaminius was a large, circular area in ancient Rome, located in the southern end of the Campus Martius near the Tiber River. It contained a small race-track used for obscure games, and various other buildings and monuments. It was "bu ...

, to the East by the great porched square of ''Porticus Minucia Frumentaria'', and to the West by the

Theatre of Pompey The Theatre of Pompey ( la, Theatrum Pompeii, it, Teatro di Pompeo) was a structure in Ancient Rome built during the latter part of the Roman Republican era by Pompey the Great (Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus). Completed in 55BC, it was the first perma ...

. ''Temple A'' was built in the 3rd century BC, and is probably the ''Temple of

Juturna In the myth and religion of ancient Rome, Juturna, or Diuturna, was a goddess of fountains, wells and springs, and the mother of Fontus by Janus. Mythology Juturna was an ancient Latin deity of fountains, who in some myths was turned by Jupi ...

'' built by

Gaius Lutatius Catulus Gaius Lutatius Catulus ( 242–241 BC) was a Roman statesman and naval commander in the First Punic War. He was born a member of the plebeian gens Lutatius. His cognomen "Catulus" means "puppy". There are no historical records of his life prio ...

after his

victory The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes ...

against the

Carthaginians The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...

in 241 BC. It was later rebuilt as a church, the

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...

of which is still present. ''Temple B'', a circular temple ''( tholos)'' with six columns remaining, was built by Quintus Lutatius Catulus in 101 BC in fulfillment of his vow at the

Battle of Vercellae The Battle of Vercellae, or Battle of the Raudine Plain, was fought on 30 July 101 BC on a plain near Vercellae in Gallia Cisalpina (modern day Northern Italy). A Germanic-Celtic confederation under the command of the Cimbric king Boiorix was ...

. The temple ''(

aedes ''Aedes'' is a genus of mosquitoes originally found in tropical and subtropical zones, but now found on all continents except perhaps Antarctica. Some species have been spread by human activity: '' Aedes albopictus'', a particularly invasive sp ...

)'' was devoted to ''

Fortuna Huiusce Diei ''Fortuna Huiusce Diei'' ("The Fortune of This Day" or "Today's Fortune") was an aspect of the goddess Fortuna, known primarily for her temple in the Area Sacra di Largo Argentina at Rome. Cicero lists her among the deities who should be cultiv ...

'', "the

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...

of This Day." The colossal statue found during excavations and now kept in the

Centrale Montemartini The Capitoline Museums (Italian: ''Musei Capitolini'') are a group of art and archaeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The historic seats of the museums are Palazzo dei Conservatori and Pala ...

of the

Capitoline Museums The Capitoline Museums ( Italian: ''Musei Capitolini'') are a group of art and archaeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The historic seats of the museums are Palazzo dei Conservatori and Pal ...

was the statue of the goddess herself. Only the head, the arms, and the legs were made of marble: the other parts, covered by the dress, were of other materials, probably a wooden frame. This is known as an

acrolithic An acrolith is a composite sculpture made of stone together with other materials such as wood or inferior stone such as limestone, as in the case of a figure whose clothed parts are made of wood, while the exposed flesh parts such as head, hands, ...

statue. ''Temple C'' is the most ancient of the four, dating back to 4th or 3rd century BC, and was probably devoted to ''

Feronia Feronia may mean: * Feronia (mythology), a goddess of fertility in Roman and Etruscan mythology * ''Feronia'' (plant), a genus of plants * Feronia Inc., a plantations company operating in the Democratic Republic of the Congo * Feronia (Sardinia) ...

'' the ancient Italic goddess of fertility. After the fire of AD 80, this temple was restored, and the white and black mosaic of the inner temple

cella A cella (from Latin for small chamber) or naos (from the Greek ναός, "temple") is the inner chamber of an ancient Greek or Roman temple in classical antiquity. Its enclosure within walls has given rise to extended meanings, of a hermit's or ...

dates back to this restoration. ''Temple D'' is the largest of the four, dates back to the 2nd century BC with Late Republican restorations, and was devoted to ''

Lares Lares ( , ; archaic , singular ''Lar'') were guardian deities in ancient Roman religion. Their origin is uncertain; they may have been hero-ancestors, guardians of the hearth, fields, boundaries, or fruitfulness, or an amalgam of these. Lare ...

Permarini'' (Lares who protect sailors), but only a small part of it has been excavated (a street covers the most of it). It was vowed by the

praetor Praetor ( , ), also pretor, was the title granted by the government of Ancient Rome to a man acting in one of two official capacities: (i) the commander of an army, and (ii) as an elected '' magistratus'' (magistrate), assigned to discharge vari ...

Lucius Aemilius Regillus Lucius Aemilius Regillus (fl. c. 190 – 189 BC) was a Roman admiral and praetor during the war with Antiochus III of Syria. Born to Marcus Aemilius Regillus, much of Lucius Regillus's early life and military career is unknown before being appoi ...

, while engaged in a naval battle with the fleet of Antiochus the Great in 190 BC, and dedicated by M. Aemilius Lepidus, when censor, on 22 December, 179. On the doors of the temple was a dedicatory inscription in

Saturnian metre Saturnian meter or verse is an old Latin and Italic poetic form, of which the principles of versification have become obscure. Only 132 complete uncontroversial verses survive. 95 literary verses and partial fragments have been preserved as quo ...

. It is recorded as standing ''in porticu Minucia'' and therefore its exact site depends on that of the

porticus A porticus, in church architecture and archaeology, is usually a small room in a church. Commonly, porticus form extensions to the north and south sides of a church, giving the building a cruciform plan. They may function as chapels, rudimentary ...

. File:PICT0510 - Largo di Torre Argentina.jpg, ''Temple A'' File:Rome the sacred area of largo argentina 20050922.jpg, ''Temple B'' File:Zone Sacrée Argentine - Rome (IT62) - 2021-08-30 - 7.jpg, ''Temple C''

18th century opera house

The

Teatro Argentina The Teatro Argentina (directly translating to "Theatre Argentina") is an opera house and theatre located in Largo di Torre Argentina, a square in Rome, Italy. One of the oldest theatres in Rome, it was constructed in 1731 and inaugurated on 31 ...

is an 18th-century

opera house An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venues are constructed specifically fo ...

and theatre located in the square. The premieres of many notable operas took place there. They include

Gioachino Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano pieces, and some sacred music. He set new standards ...

's ''

The Barber of Seville ''The Barber of Seville, or The Useless Precaution'' ( it, Il barbiere di Siviglia, ossia L'inutile precauzione ) is an '' opera buffa'' in two acts composed by Gioachino Rossini with an Italian libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was ba ...

'' in 1816 and

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

's '' I due Foscari'' in 1844 and ''

La battaglia di Legnano ''La battaglia di Legnano'' (''The Battle of Legnano'') is an opera in four acts, with music by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian-language libretto by Salvadore Cammarano. It was based on the play ''La Bataille de Toulouse'' by Joseph Méry, later the ...

'' in 1849.

Cat shelter

Roma - Largo di Torre Argentina (40984385150)

The Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary is located in Temple D of the Largo di Torre Argentina. The cat shelter was founded in 1993 and offers sterilization and adoption programs that house an estimated 350 cats. The shelter operates as a no-kill shelter under Law no. 281, enacted by the Italian Parliament in 1991. These laws introduced: (i) the cats’ rights to live free and safe, (ii) institutionalization of cat caretakers. The shelter remains active, despite archaeologists' protests to dismantle the shelter in favor of protecting the excavation.

References

External links

* *
Area Sacra di Largo Argentina
* Virtual reconstruction in 3D o
Largo di Torre Argentina
in Ancient Rome * {{DEFAULTSORT:Largo Di Torre Argentina Tourist attractions in Rome Temples in the Campus Martius Ruins in Italy Topography of the ancient city of Rome Rome R. IX Pigna

Roman temples

18th century opera house

Cat shelter

See also

References

External links