Largo di Torre Argentina

Coordinates: 41°53′43″N 12°28′37″E / 41.89528°N 12.47694°E / 41.89528; 12.47694
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Temple of Feronia
)
Area Sacra di Largo Argentina
Comune di Roma, Lazio, Italy
RegionLazio
Coordinates41°53′43″N 12°28′37″E / 41.89528°N 12.47694°E / 41.89528; 12.47694
Typesanctuary
History
Founded4th century BC – 1st century AD
PeriodsRoman Republic, Roman Empire
CulturesAncient Rome
Site notes
Excavation datesyes
Public accessyes
WebsiteAREA SACRA DI LARGO ARGENTINA

Largo di Torre Argentina (Argentina Tower Square) is a large open space in

Pompey's Theatre. It is in the ancient Campus Martius.[1]

The name of the square comes from the Torre Argentina (Argentina Tower), which takes its name from the city of

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 was assassinated in the Curia of Pompey, and the spot where he is believed to have been assassinated is in the square.[2]

After

Italian unification
, 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 announced that walkways would be installed in the site allowing the general public to tour the ruins for the first time.[3]

Roman temples

Map of the archaeological area

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, and to the South by the buildings related to the Circus Flaminius, to the East by the great porched square of Porticus Minucia Frumentaria, and to the West by the Theatre of Pompey.[4][5]

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

victory against the Carthaginians in 241 BC.[6] It was later rebuilt as a church, the apse
of which is still present.

Temple B, a circular temple (

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

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
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

Antiochus the Great in 190 BC, and dedicated by M. Aemilius Lepidus, when censor, on 22 December, 179.[9] On the doors of the temple was a dedicatory inscription in Saturnian metre.[10] It is recorded as standing in porticu Minucia[11] and therefore its exact site depends on that of the porticus.[12][13]

  • Temple A
    Temple A
  • Temple B
    Temple B
  • Temple C
    Temple C

18th century opera house

The Teatro Argentina is an 18th-century opera house and theatre located in the square. The premieres of many notable operas took place there. They include Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville in 1816[14] and Giuseppe Verdi's I due Foscari in 1844[15] and La battaglia di Legnano in 1849.[16]

Cat shelter

Largo di Torre Argentina cats

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.[17][18][19]

See also

References

  1. ^ Giuseppe Marchetti Longhi (1960). L'area sacra del Largo argentina. Istituto poligrafico dello Stato, Libreria dello Stato.
  2. .
  3. ^ Gregorio Borgia (2019-02-18). "Ancient site linked to Caesar's murder to open to public". santamariatimes.com. Archived from the original on 2019-02-28. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
  4. ^ Giuseppe Marchetti Longhi (1930). L'"area sacra" ed i templi repubblicani del largo Argentina. Libreria di scienze e lettere.
  5. .
  6. ^ This identification is preferred over the one as Temple of Iuno Curritis, because Ovid (Fasti I) says: "Te quoque lux eadem Turni soror aede recepit/Hic, ubi Virginea Campus obitur aqua", thus posing the temple of Juturna near the Aqua Virgo, which ended at the Baths of Agrippa.
  7. ^ G. Marchetti-Longhi, "Gli scavi del Largo Argentina: II Tempio B," BullCom 76 (1956- 58): 45-118
  8. ^ Julius Caesar's assassination site reopens: Largo Argentina 4 Republican Temples!, retrieved 2023-09-04
  9. ^ Livy XL.52.4; Macrobius I.10.10; Fasti Praenestini ad XI Kal. Ian., CIL I2 pp238, 338; Fast. Ant. ap. NS 1921, 120; HJ 487; Gilb. III.149; Rosch. II.1870‑1871; WR 170.
  10. ^ Livy loc. cit.; cf. Baehrens, Frag. poet. Rom. 54‑55.
  11. ^ Fast. p316 Praen.
  12. ^ AR 1909, 76, p1; RE XII.812.
  13. ^ From the Lacus Curtius website)Lares Permarini
  14. ^ "Teatro Argentina | Rome, Italy Entertainment".
  15. ^ "News".
  16. ^ "News".
  17. ^ "Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary | Rome for Visitors".
  18. ^ "A little bit of history". Rome Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary (Official Site). Retrieved 11 November 2018.
  19. S2CID 64300965
    .

External links

Preceded by
House of the Vestals
Landmarks of Rome
Largo di Torre Argentina
Succeeded by
Lupercal