Area Sacra Largo Argentina, Rome

Because I love animals and I miss mine who have long since been gone, when in Rome for any length of time, I will volunteer at the Roman Cat Sanctuary.

http://www.romancats.de/romancats/index_eng.php
This wonderful cat sanctuary in Rome is right across from the trolly stop at Torre Argentina where the ruins are. It is easily missed, however, because you have to go down some steps and into a sort of basement to get there. Don't give up. I did volunteer work there once a week while I lived in Rome.

Many famous opera's had their premiere in this theatre, built in 1732 by the Sforza Cesarini family. The facade was placed a century later though. There are still performances in this beautiful building!

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This square consists of four temples unearthed by excavation works in the 1920s. The four temples date from the late fourth to the late second century BC . The square has been identified as the Porticus Minucia Venus, founded 107 BC as the last of the four temples was finished. It can be viewed from four sides, notably from Corso Vittorio Emanuelle I, just at Largo Argentina , i.e. where you jump the No.8 tram for Trastevere. You are looing down as you walk round perhaps five metres - this was of course street level in ancient Rome, which has been altered naturally over time and by the great fire. The area was destroyed by fire AD80 , a year before Pompeii (AD 79) - no small irony that one of the buildings to have been positively identified was the Statio Aquarum, or water board which would today be responsible for water supply and fire hydrants!

Inadvertently unearthed during an excavation project ordered by Benito Mussolini, the fascinating Area Sacra dell’Argentina is one of the best sites to see the remains of Roman architecture from the Republican era.
The four temples of the Area Sacra dell’Argentina date from the 4th to 2nd centuries B.C. The remains we see now are the result of renovations by emperor Domitianus.

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Discovered by chance in 1926 during a construction project, the Area Sacra is an archeological site containing the remains of four Ancient Roman temples. It is located in Largo di Torre Argentina, now a large square in central Rome, named after the mediaeval tower (Torre Argentina) in the square. Because archeologists are still uncertain to whom the four temples were dedicated, they have designated them with the letters A to D. Although entry into the area is restricted, a walk along the outside railing provides excellent views of the imprint of the temples and some of the standing columns. Roman cats, however, seem to have full access to the site and many have taken refuge among the ruins (see attached photos).

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This is a great place to check out if you're traveling with kids or just like cats. The cats wander and sun themselves among the ruins. A dedicated group of volunteers take care of them and place many in homes. A few brave cats venture out to the steps to say hi.

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Largo di Torre Argentina is another place you should not miss while visiting Rome. It is a very short and pleasant walk (5 min) from The Pantheon.

You will see the ruins of 4 temples: A, B, C, D. This is how all the audio guides refer to them in order to make it easy for you to identify the ruins. Temple A was built in the 3rd century BC. Temple B, a circular temple with six columns remaining, was built in 101 BC. Temple C is dating back to 4th or 3rd century BC. Some people say that this temple was devoted devoted to Feronia, the goddess of fertility. Temple D dates back to 2nd century BC.

Look for the remains of some brick walls. This was the exit to Pompey's Theater and the Baths complex, which the Roman Senate was using in the 1st century BC to hold their meetings while the main Senate house in the Forum was being rebuilt.

The area today is the shelter of 250 cats. Volunteers take care of them and open up the site for visiting every day around 4:30pm (4:00pm in the summer). The entrance is free, but they ask you for donations, so they can keep the shelter running. You can also adopt a cat if you want.
It was pouring when we were there and it was very cold. This was one of the last sights we planned visiting during particular day and we were soaked to the bones. We spent few minutes here, listening to the audio guide we had with us, but we did not wait for the volunteers to show up and open the sight. I can just imagine how great this experience would have been in a nice weather!

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If you are a cat lover, head for the Largo del Torre Argentina to visit the cat sanctuary amongst the ruins of the place where Julius Caesar was assassinated, known as the Area Sacra. There are over 200 very happy cats roaming around in what must be cat paradise, right in the centre of Rome! You can visit the sanctuary's shop and infirmary (between 12 noon to 6pm I think) which is manned by the lady volunteers and lots of feline helpers and there is a guided tour of the ruins at 4pm most days (we didn't manage that, but would go back another time).