Page 84 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Rome

82  ROME AREA B Y AREA

A Tour of the Roman Forum: East

The eastern end of the Roman Forum is dominated by the The Regia was the office
of the Pontifex Maximus,
massive barrel-vaulted ruins of the Basilica of Constantine. the chief priest of
To picture the building as it was in the 4th century AD, ancient Rome.
you must imagine marble columns, floors, and statues,
and glittering tiles of gilt bronze. The remains of the
other important buildings are scant, though the
garden and ponds in the center of the House of the
Vestal Virgins make it a very attractive spot. The two
churches in this part of the Forum cannot be
reached from within the archaeological area,
but are accessible from the road outside.

q Temple of Antoninus To Forum
and Faustina entrance
The portico of this temple,
built in AD 141, has been
incorporated in the church
of San Lorenzo in Miranda. V I A S A C R A

An early Iron Age necropolis
was found here in 1902. Finds
from it, such as this burial urn,
are on view in the Antiquarium.

9 Temple of Vesta
Partly reconstructed, this tiny
temple to the goddess of the
hearth was one of ancient
Rome’s most sacred shrines.

0. House of the Vestal Virgins w Temple of Romulus
The priestesses who tended the sacred flame in the This domed building from the 4th
Temple of Vesta lived here. The house was a large century AD has survived as part of the
rectangular building around a central garden. church of Santi Cosma e Damiano.

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