Forum Boarium, Rome

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Built in the 7th century AD, la Basilica di San Giorgio al Velabro is said to contain the bones of Saint George. "Velabro" refers to the Velabrum, the swamp that was located in this little valley in ancient times, where - legend has it - the she-wolf found Remus and Romulus. The basilica itself underwent some reconstructions and additions over the years, including a restoration in the 1990s after an attack. The tower and the façade, though, date from the 12th century, while the beautiful mosaics covering the apse are from the 13th. Meanwhile, fragments of Roman materials decorate the exterior and mismatched Corinthian and Ionic columns line the central nave. The most interesting feature of the basilica is the incorporation of the Roman-period Arcus Argentariorum (Arco degli Argentari) in its exterior (see attached photos). The small, well-preserved arch is thought to have been a gate leading into the Forum Boarium.

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This was the center of life in ancient Rome. While damaged by looting, earthquakes, and other calamities, it remains one of Rome's great attractions. It was the center of commerce, government, and religion.

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Dating from 100 BC, the Temple of Portunus is, along with its neighbour the Temple of Hercules Victor, among the best preserved of Roman temples in the Eternal City. In ancient Rome, they were both part of the Forum Boarium. Although it has lost some of its original exterior stucco, the Temple of Portunus has survived largely intact due to its use as a church for much of its post-Roman life. It is located near the River Tiber just south of the Theatre of Marcellus.

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One of the most interesting looking churches in Rome, San Nicola in Carcere incorporates the remains of three Roman temples: Juno, Spes, and Janus. The main structure was built around 1600, but the bell tower dates from an earlier mediaeval church. Standing colonnades from the Roman temples are embedded in the outer walls of the church, while other remains and columns decorate the green area surrounding it. These three temples were part of Forum Holitarium, located near il Tevere (Tiber River) and between Teatro di Marcello and Tempio di Portuno (just to the north of Forum Boarium). The interior of the church has three naves with arched porticos and Corinthian columns, some round and some fluted, also recycled from Roman temples (see attached photos).

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In the 11th century, the prominent Crescenzi family built this fortress to watch over the docks on the Tiber River. They utilised random fragments from ruined Roman buildings in the construction of the fortress. Over time, the fortress was reduced to what we see today as the bizarre Casa dei Crescenzi, which looks like a patchwork of ancient and mediaeval ruins.

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“There are some who say that this fountain is too magnificent for the square where it stands and for the poor people who will benefit from it.”
— Giovanni Mario Crescimbeni (1663-1728) named canon of Santa Maria in Cosmedin in 1705 by Pope Clement XI

Here in the former cattle market of Ancient Rome Pope Clement XI undertook a city beautification program. He commissioned Carlo Bizzaccheri, an architect from Perugia, to design a fountain; it would be the centerpiece the square opposite the basilica of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. On 11.August.1717 work began. The cornerstone was blessed and medals to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the church’s namesake, and to St. John the Baptist, the patron saint of water were cemented in place along with the stone.

Bizzaccheri based the overall design on Pope Clement’s Albani family crest, an eight-pointed star above three hills. The octagonal basin uses the star and the rocks within the basin are the three hills.

The travertine fountain shows two powerful, scaly tritons, carved by Francesco Moratti, and a group of rocky outcroppings, carved by Filippo Bai, rising from its center. The tritons, kneeling back-to-back with their tails entwined, raise their arms to support a seashell-shaped basin. The basin also has Pope Clement’s coat-of-arms carved on opposite sides. In the center of this shell are three small mounds from which the water rises.

On the day that Fontana dei Tritoni was dedicated, His Holiness Pope Clement XI arranged for food and money to be distributed to the more than 60 people who had worked on building the fountain, all of whom were gathered in the square for the occasion.

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Down by the Tiber, near the Ponte Palatino, the Piazza della Bocca della Verita occupies the space that, from the earliest days of the Republic, was given over to the city's cattle market - the Forum Boarium. With a port on the Tiber, this and the adjacent Forum Olitorium formed the main commercial centre of the city. It was also an important religious centre, with temples to dedicated to Hercules Victor (not a god, but an important cult figure, especially to the city's merchants) and Portunus (the god of harbors) and an enormous 6th century BC altar dedicated to Hercules. The altar has long since disappeared though the massive statue that adorned it was found in the late 15th century and can be seen today in the Palazzo dei Conservatori. The two temples remain though the Temple of Portunus is hidden under scaffolding at present. The best preserved of all the city's Republican buildings, the tiny round Temple of Hercules Victor is the also oldest surviving marble building in the city.

Another extraordinary survivor here is the Casa dei Crescenzi - a mediaeval fortified tower, built by an influential Roman family in the 11th century. The use of spolia from Roman times is as remarkable as it being one of the very few buildings apart from churches to have survived from this period.

Most visitors who make their way to piazza are heading for the porch of the Church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, where the Bocca della Verita (the Mouth of Truth) has been first a source of superstitious fear and, these days, posey photos for many a long year. The bell tower of the church has been a landmark in this quarter of the city since the 12th century, though the church itself has a much older foundation - it dates back to the 8th century. The Tritons in the fountain in front of the church have been supporting their shells since 1715.

Just off the Forum, the Arch of Janus sits in the area known as the Velabrum, where the road that connected the Forum Boarium to the Roman Forum and the Capitoline Hill to the Palatine crossed. It marks the north-eastern corner of the old cattle market. Ancient records tell us that as well as being a monument, probably to Constantine I, the arch was put to practical use as a shelter for the market's traders.

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“Anyone who has seen Rome has seen everything.”
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) from “Viaggio in Italia”

In the area of the former Foro Boarium there remain two very well preserved temples from Rome’s Republican Era. Located across the street from Santa Maria in Cosmedin, they are the Temple of Hercules Victor and the Temple of Portunus.

The round one is the Temple of Hercules Victor, also known as Hercules Olivarius. Dating from the late second century BC, this oldest marble building in Rome was officially recognized as an ancient monument in 1935. Because of its round floor plan it has been always been mistaken for a temple of Vesta; but a temple to Hercules, whom the traders at the Foro Boarium, the old cattle market, would have favored, would be appropriate here.

The rectangular one is the Temple of Portunus, god of rivers and seaports. Originally this deity protected doors, portus, but when the meaning of the word changed to harbor, his guardian function also changed. This temple dates from the late-second and first century BC, and is one of the best-preserved buildings from that period.

It is not possible to enter either of these building. We must content ourselves with enjoying them from the outside.