Everything about Largo Di Torre Argentina totally explained
Largo di Torre Argentina is a square in
Rome that hosts four
Republican Roman temples, and the remains of
Pompey's Theater. It is located in the ancient
Campus Martius.
The name of the square comes from the
Torre Argentina, which takes its name from the city of
Strasbourg, whose original name was
Argentoratum. In 1503, in fact, the Papal Master of Ceremonies
Johannes Burckardt from Strasbourg built in
via del Sudario a palace (now at number 44), called
Casa del Burcardo, to which the tower is annexed.
The other tower in the square isn't the one giving the name to the place, but the Medieval
Torre del Papitto ("Little Pope's Tower"), attributed by tradition to
Antipope Anacletus II Pierleoni, allegedly not a tall person.
After
Italian unification, it was decided to reconstruct part of Rome (
1909), demolishing the zone of Torre Argentina. During the works (1927), however, the colossal head and arms of a marble statue were discovered. The archeological investigation brought to light the presence of a
holy area, dating to the Republican era, with four temples and part of
Pompey's Theater.
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, 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.
Temple A was built in the
3rd century BC, and is probably the
Temple of Juturna built by
Gaius Lutatius Catulus after his
victory against the
Carthaginians in
241 BC. It was later rebuilt into a church, whose apse is still present.
Temple B, a circular temple with six columns remaining, was built by
Quintus Lutatius Catulus in
101 BC to celebrate his
victory over Cimbri; it was
Aedes Fortunae Huiusce Diei, a temple devoted to the "Luck of the Current Day". The colossal statue found during excavations and now kept in the
Capitoline Museums was the statue of the goddess herself. Only the head, the arms, and the legs were of marble: the other parts, covered by the dress, were of bronze.
Temple C is the most ancient of the three, dating back to
4th or
3rd century BC, and was probably devoted to
Feronia the ancient
Italic goddess of fertility. After the fire of 80 AD, this temple was restored, and the white and black mosaic of the inner temple cell dates back to this restoration.
Temple D is the largest of the four, dates back to
2nd century BC with Late Republican restorations, and was devoted to
Lares Permarini, but only a small part of it has been excavated (a street covers the most of it).
18th century opera house
The
Teatro Argentina is an
18th century opera house and theater located in the square. The premieres of many notable operas took place there. They include
Gioachino Rossini's
The Barber of Seville in
1816 and
Giuseppe Verdi's
I due Foscari in
1844 and
La battaglia di Legnano in
1849.
The cat shelter
Located in the
Largo Argentina is the Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary, a no-kill shelter for homeless cats (of which Rome has many). The presence of the shelter proves to be a point of interest for both tourists and locals, as the historical area abounds with various breeds of cat, cavorting and lounging about on the ancient (and semi-ancient) ruins.
In recent years, foreign students with laser-pointers have been seen playing games with the cats, initiating chases and even inciting bouts of aggression among the resident felines.
The volunteers at the shelter give daily tours of the ruins at 5:00 PM (4:00 PM in winter). Although the tours are free they do ask for a small donation as they don't get any government funding and run strictly on donations.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Largo Di Torre Argentina'.
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