UNFORGETTABLE ITALY Week 29 - Tempio di Antonino e Faustina

Happy day Italy community! I have the pleasure of participating once again in the Unforgettable Italy contest, held by @girolamomarotta, in its week #29. Rome is a city that has a lot to show and any corner is full of history and today I want to share with you a little bit of that richness by presenting you this photograph of the Temple of Antonio and Faustina.

This temple is located on the important Via Sacra, inside the Roman Forum, right next to the Colosseum. It was built by Antonius Pius in 141 AD, as a tribute to his wife Empress Faustina, who after her death was deified.

This is a place that could be preserved from destruction since it was transformed into the church of San Lorenzo in the Middle Ages. It has a large facade with an ancient staircase and six tall marble columns. Inside, the temple is quite spacious, with a 17 meters high hall that at the time of its construction was covered with marble.

In more recent years, it was learned that, to the right of the temple, numerous remains of an ancient necropolis that had inhabited that area were found, which date from the Iron Age and all that was found is in the Antiquiarium of the Roman Forum.

Something that caught my attention about the history of this building is what Antonio Pio used to say before the death of his wife and that is that he would have preferred to live with her in the desert than without her in the palace.

I hope you liked my post and see you in a future post.