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A detail of the model of ancient Rome reproducing the area of the Column of Marcus Aurelius (at the center), near which are the Temple of Hadrian and the Temple of Matidia (above).
Temple of Hadrian, Rome. The houses in front follow the line of the portico which used to surround the temple. The Caffettiera Café at no. 65 is famous for its Neapolitan pastries.
Eleven columns are still visible on the right side of the temple: their preservation is due to the reuse of the temple in the course of the centuries. Sixteenth-century drawings already show the columns incorporated into a sort of castle with numerous small windows.
Antonius Column and Temple of Hadrian, Sadeler, Prague, 1606-1660. Photo Credit: MapsHouse
Originally the 11 remaining columns belonged to the Hadrian’s Temple right side. In the Middle Ages, the extreme metal shortage led the Romans to exploit remains from the ancient days of affluence, and the Temple of Hadrian became one such target. The visible holes in the columns are the result of medieval ravaging; the plunderers removed the iron clasps, which held together various marble sections.
The fundamental transformation dates from 1695, when the architect Francesco Fontana designed the Dogana di Terra (Customs House): he incorporated the surviving temple structures in the harmonious facade of his three-storey building, set with large windows. Later again, in 1879, the building became the Borsa Valori (Rome Stock Exchange). Clearly risible inside are the remains of the cell of the temple with its coffered barrel-vaulting. The building is now used for exhibitions.
Columns of Hadrians Temple in Piazza di Pietra by night. Photo via Adobe Stock.
Colosseum to Temple of Hadrian:
Hadrian Temple set in the center of Rome, 1,8 km from (22 min walk) from Colosseum.
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Column of Antoninus Pius – Front view
Left side of the pedestal of the Column of Antoninus Pius.
Inscription – Column of Antoninus Pius. The inscription of the Column records that Marcus Aurelius and Verus Augustus (Lucius) dedicated the column to the Divine Antoninus Augustus Pius.
The shaft of the column has been lost, except for the summit, which bore an inscription, the architect’s signature, and the date the stone was quarried. The rest was carved up and used to restore the nearby sundial of Augustus.
The column’s base (right foreground, showing one of the decursio sides), in Panini’s 1747 painting of the Palazzo Montecitorio. Source: National Gallery, London.
Column of Antoninus Pius- Drawing by Jacobo Lauro (C1570-1630), 1628
The principal relief on the base depicts the apotheosis of the emperor and his wife Faustina, borne to the sky by the winged genius Aion, the symbol of eternity. The two sides are decorated with almost identical scenes: a ring of cavalry encircling a parade of infantry, in allusion to the consecration of the imperial couple on the site of the funeral pyre.
The base of the Column of Antoninus Pius was found in 1703 in Via della Missone, near Montecitorio. Now in the Vatican Museums.
SOURCES:
- Featured Image: Pinacoteca, Musei Vaticani
- A Travel Companion to the Hidden Secrets of The Eternal City
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]]>The river port of Rome consisted of a long series of wharves along the bank of the Tiber and numerous warehouses behind them, grouped around an area that corresponds more or less closely with that known as the Forum Boarium, around the circular and rectangular temples.
Temple of Portunus in the Forum Boarium (Rome, Italy).
In Forum Boarium, even before the foundation of Rome, there had been an active market between the Latin and Sabine villages on the left bank and the Etruscan villages on the right, who made use of the Tiber island as the easiest place for ferrying beasts across, and who met on the meadows below the Aventine, the Palatine, and the Campidoglio to assemble their flocks and herds. This is where the most important transport routes of central Italy crossed: the Tiber, which was then navigable from its mouth up to Orte, and the north-south land route from Etruria to Campania.
The Forum Boarium, covering most of the plain between the Tiber and the Capitol, Palatine, and Aventine, contains two exceptionally well-preserved little temples in what is now Piazza Bocca della Verita. The Temple of Fortune, actually identified as the Temple of Portunus (an ancient tutelary God of Rome’s first trading port, the Portus Tiberinus, on the bend in the river), was erected in the early monarchical period and rebuilt a number of times by the first century AD.
Temple of Portunus or Temple of Fortuna Virilis on Forum Boarium in Rome
The temple stands on a dry-stone plinth. The elevation is entirely made out of Anio tufa, except for the columns and capitals which are of travertine. The cornice is original and bears lion protomes. The so-called Temple of Vesta nearby is wholly made of Greek marble from Mount Pentelicus. Erected by a wealthy Roman oil merchant, it was in fact dedicated to Hercules, the patron of oil sellers.
Temple of Hercules Victor.
The Temple of Hercules Victor (Hercules the Winner) is an ancient edifice located in the area of the Forum Boarium close to the Tiber in Rome, Italy.
The Temple of Hercules Victor , ca 1870
Ancient records refer to it as the Temple of Hercules Victor. It stands on a stepped stone base, with a ring of twenty Corinthian columns encircling a cell with the entrance on the east side. It seems to have been the work of Hermodorus, a Greek architect from Salamis active in Rome in the later second century BC.
Archaeological excavations in the 19th – 20th centuries in the area of the Forum at the foot of this hill towards the Tiber brought to light very interesting artifacts dating from the Bronze Age.
Ruins of hut houses of the 9th–8th centuries BC, similar to those on the Palatine, were discovered and the archaeological evidence has thrown brand-new light on the origins of Rome and the presence of the Etruscans here in the 7th and 6th centuries BC.
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]]>Emperor Diocletian’s aim was to provide the northern parts of the city with baths that would meet the varied needs of the Romans, as his predecessor Caracalla did in the south of Rome. Many buildings were demolished to make way for this immense complex, built rapidly between 298 and 306 AD and covering 140,000 square metres. With its dimensions of approximately 380 x 370m., the Baths of Diocletian erected in 298-305 surpassed those of Caracalla.
The baths of Diocletian in the model of Rome, Museo della Civilta Romana, Rome.
Octagonal Hall of Diocletian Baths, or more commonly Planetarium, seen from Via Romita
The Baths (Thermae Diocletiani) in Rome
The main buildings included the Calidarium, the Tepidarium, and the Frigidarium. The Calidarium, which survived into the late 17nd. century, occupied part of the present piazza. The Tepidarium and the huge central hall of the baths are now occupied by the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli. The areas of the basilica which were originally part of the baths have been incorporated into the Museum of the Baths (Museo delle Terme). Its garden still contains the facade of the main building.
The Frigidarium was an open-air bath behind this hall. Numerous large and small halls, nymphaea, and exedrae were located within the precincts. In the 16nd. century a Carthusian convent was built in the ruins. Much damage was done to the baths in the 16nd-19nd.centuries by architects and builders who used the materials for other purposes.
Ruins of the Baths of Diocletian, Rome, Italy.
Ancient mosaic in Thermae Diocletiani in Rome. Italy (2)
Ancient mosaic in Thermae Diocletiani in Rome. Italy
“I live on top of the public baths, Imagine a hubbub that makes you sorry you’re not deaf. Whenever athletes practise lifting lead weights… I hear them wheezing and grunting. I even hear the masseur’s hand slapping their shoulders…. Then if the ball players arrive and start calling points aloud it’s the last straw. Add… people plunging into the swimming pool with an almighty splash and you’ll have some idea of what goes on. But apart from these people, who at least have normal voices, imagine the depilator who tries to attract attention by screeching and never keeps quiet except when he’s stripping the hairs from someone’s armpits and making them yell instead of him. And then there’s the drinks seller with his cry, and tin sausage seller with his, and the other hucksters, and they all cry their wares in their own special tone of voice.” Seneca, Letters to Lucilius.
A visit to the surviving parts of the complex, some of which have been converted for other purposes and lie far apart, reveals its enormous extent: the Museum of the Baths (Museo delle Terme), the vaults converted into the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli by Michelangelo, the circular church of San Bernardo, the planetarium named Aula Ottagona, Piazza Esedra, and the buildings of a Carthusian convent.
When the Aqueduct Acqua Marcia was breached in 536 A.D., the Baths of Diocletian could no longer be used and fell into disrepair. After the opening in 1889 of the Museo Nazionale Romano, numerous encroaching buildings were removed. Along the modern Via Parigi stand conspicuous remains of buildings demolished to make way for the Baths.
Colosseum to Baths of Diocletian:
Baths of Diocletian set in the Piazza dei Cinquecento, 1,9 km from (26 min walk) from Colosseum.
SOURCES:
- Featured Image: Conjectural reconstruction of the interior of the Baths of Diocletian in a watercolour by E. Paulin (1848-1915).
- Museo Nazionale Romano by Electa (Author), Greg Bailey (Translator)
- The Epigraphic Collection of the Museo Nazionale Romano- by Rosanna Friggeri
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Flavian Palace (Domus Flavia) on the Palatine
This was the centre of power in the Roman Empire during imperial times. The great palace, inaugurated in 92 AD, had two entrances, one to the state rooms (the Domus Flavia) and one to the private apartments (the Domus Augustana).
Reconstruction Video of Flavian Palace:
Reconstruction Sketch of Flavian Palace (Domus Flavia) Source J.C GOLVIN
The official part of the building was laid out around a large porticoed court with various reception rooms ranged round it. In particular a splendid state room, called the Aula Regia, decorated with niches set between columns, served as the audience chamber. Here the throne was placed in the middle of an apse (a semicircular wall forming a recess). At the side of the throne room there was a basilica, its interior divided in three by two rows of columns, and a building (the lurarium) where the images of members of the royal family were placed after their deaths.
Ninfeo eliptico. Flavian Palace at Palatin in Rome, Italy
One of the nymphaeums of the Flavian Palace (Domus Flavia.)
On the opposite side of the courtyard stood the great triclinium or banqueting hall flanked by two smaller rooms at the centre of which were two oval fountains (nymphaeums). The playing of the waters could be admired by the banqueters through the great windows between the triclinium and the side chambers. Hadrian installed a heating system in the banqueting hall so that it could be used in winter. The marble pavement still visible was part of restoration work under Maxentius.
The ruins of the inner courtyard of the Flavian Palace (Domus Flavia, I c. AD). The octagonal fountain.
Tourists visiting the ruins of the Flavian Palace at the Palatine in Rome. The Domus Flavia was the palace of the emperors of the ancient Rome after Domitian
Domitian’s palace aroused the admiration of his contemporaries by its splendour and the immense size of the lofty chambers, probably decorated with marble and richly furnished. The grandeur of the architecture and the natural setting of the palace created the impression that it was truly the dwelling of a dominus et deus, a god ruling over the earth.
The Emperor Domitian so feared his own death that he had the interior of his palace, the Domus Flavia, lined with slabs of reflective mica to reveal potential assassins creeping up behind him. In the end it was to no avail—he was stabbed to death in the portico.
Flavian Palace to Colosseum:
Flavian Palace set in the Palatine Hill, 0,95 km from (12 min walk) from Colosseum.
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]]>The complex built by Tiberius on the Palatine covered much of the west side of the hill between the Temple of the Great Mother and the hillside towards the forum, perhaps the site of the emperor’s paternal home. The buildings are little known, as the area was covered in the sixteenth century by the Garden of the Farnese family, in part still existing, and so excavations have only explored their edges.
Reconstruction Sketch of Domus Tiberiana – Source: J.C GOLVIN
View of Domus Tiberiana from the Roman Forum – Rome, Italy. Few of its ruins have been excavated, being overlaid with the beautiful Orti Farnesiani (the Farnese Gardens). These were set out for Cardinal Alessandro Farnese in the 16th century by the great Renaissance architect, Vignola. Caligula in turn extended Tiberius’s Domus west towards the Forum, away from the 130m (425ft) Criptoportico (Cryptoporticus) on its east, a half-buried corridor built by Nero which linked the various imperial palaces. Legend has it that this was where Caligula was stabbed to death.
We know that the residence of Tiberius was enlarged by Caligula and restored by Domitian, Hadrian and Septimius Severus. It long remained in use as the residence of the designated heir to the empire, while the reigning emperor occupied the nearby Domus Augustana. For example Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus both moved here after their adoption by the Emperor Antoninus Pius.
Nero became emperor aged 17 and during the first years of his reign he lived here. But for Nero, it was not enough; after the fire in A.D. 64, he decided to build a new residence in the space created after the central Roman neighborhoods were totally gutted: the Domus Aurea.
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]]>The Domus Aurea, constructed under Emperor Nero’s directive in the 1st century AD, is an archaeological complex composed of extensive frescoes, vaulted rooms, and innovative architectural solutions. Its design exemplifies cutting-edge Roman engineering and art, contributing substantially to the scholarly understanding of Imperial Rome. We’ll begin our article by introducing the Domus Aurea tours. Then, we’ll share historical information and interesting facts about the Domus Aurea. Let’s get started!
Domus Aurea Guided Group Tour
Over the centuries, Domus Aurea fell into obscurity, its splendor only rediscovered during the Renaissance. Today, portions of its subterranean chambers—and their famous frescoes—can be explored by booking Domus Aurea tours or purchasing Domus Aurea tickets in advance.
If you’re seeking a comprehensive visit with an expert guide, the Domus Aurea Guided Group Tour is a must. Perfect for history enthusiasts craving a deeper understanding of Nero’s lost palace, this walking tour leads you through the labyrinth of corridors and rooms adorned with ancient frescoes. Imagine descending into the hushed remains of the Golden House, once the epitome of luxury, and hearing the stories of how Nero’s architects shaped an entirely new era of Roman design.
- Duration: Approximately 2 hours
- Highlights: Immersive storytelling about the emperor’s lavish lifestyle, exclusive access to areas still under active excavation, and up-close views of the intricate frescoes that survived centuries of abandonment.
- Immersive 3D Experience: Witness a stunning reconstruction of opulent halls, sparkling porticoes, and the once-expansive palace grounds.
This tour unveils the excesses of Nero’s reign and the architectural marvels that made Domus Aurea such a revolutionary site in Roman history. It’s like stepping back in time to witness firsthand the sheer scale of Nero’s audacity.
from €79.00 EUR
Duration: 2 Hours
Organized by: Through Eternity Tours
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History and Facts
Immediately after the fire of 64 AD, which destroyed most of the centre of Rome, Nero built a new imperial residence: Domus Aurea. This was far bigger and more luxurious than the previous one, the Domus Transitoria (House of Transition).
Its walls were decked with gold and precious stones, giving it the name the Domus Aurea or Golden House. Nero employed Severus as architect, and Fabullus as painter, and produced what has been called the first expression of the Roman revolution in architecture. The new palace was immense: it covered the Palatine, Velia and Oppian hills and the valley where the Colosseum was later built.
Remains of a dome and circular space inside the Domus Aurea palace in Rome
Domus Aurea – Rome, Italy.
People exploring antique roman ruins being restored – Work stopped when Nero died in A.D. 68, and subsequent emperors demolished large portions of the palace in favour of projects such as the Colosseum. Most of the Domus itself was swallowed up by Trajan’s Baths (A.D.104-9). Rome’s first truly monumental bath complex, its plan was copied by all that followed.
The astronomic orientation of the building confirms the theory that Nero saw himself as the sun god and therefore frequently used symbolism of the stars and sun. The head of his colossal statue, too, was surrounded by a corona. (surpassing the famous Colossus of Rhodes, and the largest statue ever made in antiquity)
This grandiose edifice did not long survive the tyrants death in 68 A.D., as succeeding emperors demolished or covered up his buildings. In 72 A.D. Vespasian obliterated the lake to build the Colosseum; Domitian (81-96 A.D.) buried the constructions on the Palatine to make room for the Flavian palaces. Trajan (98-117 A.D. ) destroyed the houses on the Oppian to build his baths; and Hadrian (117-78 A.D. ) built his Temple of Venus and Roma on the site of the atrium, and moved the statue. During the Renaissance, parts of the substructure and ground floor rooms of Nero’s palace were exposed, revealing many ancient works of art, including the Laocoön group in 1506.
Reconstruction of the great hall of the Domus Aurea with the Laocoon, in a painting by G. Chedanne (nineteenth century). Musée des Beaux-Arts, Rouen.
Ancient statue of Laocoon and his Sons in Vatican, Italy. The Trojan Laocoon was strangled by sea snakes with his two sons. In 1506, another renowned work, the Laocoon (now in the Vatican Museums) was also retrieved from the Domus Aurea. The group was wrongly reassembled by Michelangelo (who was also responsible for restoring part) until a vital missing link (an arm) was found in a Roman antique shop in 1906.
All memory of the palace was lost during the later Empire and Middle Ages. Renaissance painters exhaustively studied the finely detailed, imaginative frescoes from Nero’s time in the subterranean chambers which they called grottoes, and derived a new style known as grotesque painting from them. Unfortunately there is very little left to see. Parts of the decoration survive only in the Nymphaeum, where the vault shows a mosaic depicting Odysseus and the Cyclops Polyphemus.
Painted friezes in the vault of the room of Hector and Andromache
Scene at the centre of the vaidt in the Room of Achilles at Scyros.
Today visitors can view the labyrinthine but well-lit subterranean palace only by booking a tour lasting approximately 45 minutes in Italian or English, or in other languages with an audio guide. A passage system consisting of a corridor and cryptoporticus with adjacent rooms, some of which are decorated with frescoes and stucco with garlands, tendrils, birds, putti at play, mythological scenes and landscape views, leads to the octagonal hall.
Inside Nero’s Domus Aurea – Rome, Italy
Ancient roman paintings and wall art inside the Domus Aurea palace in Rome
Ancient roman paintings and wall art inside the Domus Aurea palace in Rome (3)
A statue relief of emperor Nero’s head on the gateway entrance to the park that contains the ruins of his golden palace at domus aurea in Rome.
This hall represents a revolution in building technology. Instead of round arches, simple pillars at the corners of the octagon are sufficient to support the hemispherical vault, which is 14m/46ft in diameter and made of cast mortar. The rectangular openings between the supports serve as alcoves and entrances and terminate in horizontal lintels to provide additional support for the semi-dome, which has an oculus at the highest point to admit sunlight.
Archaeologists are still debating whether this is a central living and dining area or a room for contemplating works of art. A small rectangular adjacent room is decorated with stucco and paintings.
The luxury of the 80ha/198-acre palace, of which 150 rooms have been made accessible to date, was recorded by the emperor’s biographer Suetonius (c. 70-130):
“A huge statue of himself, 120 feet high, stood in the entrance hall; and the pillared arcade ran for a whole mile. An enormous pool, more like a sea than a pool, was surrounded by buildings made to resemble cities, and by a landscape garden consisting of plowed fields, vineyards, pastures, and woodlands — where every variety of domestic and wild animal roamed about. Parts of the house were overlaid with gold and studded with precious stones and nacre. All the dining rooms had ceilings of fretted ivory, the panels of which could slide back and let a rain of flowers, or of perfume from hidden sprinklers, shower upon his guests. The main dining room was circular, and its roof revolved slowly, day and night, in time with the sky. Sea water, or sulphur water, was always on tap in the baths. When the palace had been completely decorated in this lavish style, Nero dedicated it, and condescended to remark: “Good, now I can at last begin to live like a human being (Source: Lives of the Caesars)“
In its time, the Domus Aurea (Nero’s Golden House), was one of the most fantastic, if vulgar, palaces Rome has ever seen. Today, parts of the once huge complex— now underground—are open to public view and can be entered from the Colle Oppio, one of Rome’s most delightful neighbourhood parks .
Domus Aurea – Rome
Reconstruction Videos of Domus Aurea:
SOURCES:
- From Cloaca Massima to Domus Aurea, Carlo Pavia
- Nerone e la Domus Aurea: Le meraviglie dell’Archeologia – Maria Grazia Nini
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]]>Even today, the magnificence of the monumental but harmonious design is impressive. Like the Flavian Palace, it was erected in the reign of Domitian (in 85 A.D.), and initially served as the imperial residential palace; later, until the Byzantine period, it was also the residence and workplace of the highest officials. It was a magnificent establishment adorned with the richest marbles and filled with fountains (especially the oval fountain which was designed to be seen from the palace’s dining hall), statues, sunken gardens, temples, and decorated apartments.
Ruins of the Roman Domus Augustiana on Palatine Hill, Rome, Italy.
Garden of Domus Augustana in the Palatine Hill, Rome – Italy
Brick doorways at Domus Augustana in the Palatine Hill
The private wing of the Palace of Domitian was built on two levels to contain the slope of the Palatine Hill. Its curving facade with the main entrance facing the Circus Maximus.
On entering from this side, one passed through the outer chambers and came to an inner court surrounded by columns (called a peristyle). This was largely occupied by a monumental fountain decorated with a pattern formed by four peltae, shields shaped like half-moons legendarily used by the Amazons.
Lower peristyle with fountain of Augusti Palace (Domus Augustana, the end of I cent. AD), the personal chambers of the Emperor
Domus Augustana – Reconstruction Sketch – Source: Vision Roma
Round this courtyard were ranged symmetrically the rooms of the house of Domitian, set on two floors and with vaulted ceilings. A staircase led to the upper floor, the official residence, where a second peristyle was decorated with a large pool with a little island in the middle, on which stood a temple, perhaps to Minerva. The emperor probably only occupied the rooms on the upper floor, recognizable by their complex layout and small size.
Domus Augustana is the first major site upon entering Palatine Hill in Rome, Italy. It served as the primary residence of Caesar Augustus during his reign.
Domus Augustiana, Rome, Italy.
Gardens of the Domus Augustiana on the Palatine
Beside the palaces, Domitian built the Hippodrome of Domitian, some of the Palatine’s most extensive ruins—whether as a sunken garden or as a stadium for his personal entertainment is unknown. It may have been here that the attempted martyrdom of St. Sebastian took place.
Colosseum to Domus Augustana:
Domus Augustana is set in the Palatine Hill, 0,45 km from (6 min walk) from Colosseum.
SOURCES:
- Concrete Vaulted Construction in Imperial Rome
- Palaces from Augustus to the Age of Absolutism
- Archaologische Und Bauhistorische Dokumentationsarbeiten Auf Dem Palatin in ROM
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Horizontal View of the Forum on Blue Sky Background. Rome, Italy
The northern wall of the Forum.
The emperor died shortly before the work was completed and it was finished by Nerva in A.D 97, at the time aged sixty-six, who gave it his name.
The new forum, 120 meters long and 45 wide, allowed no space for the construction of a new colonnade, so the portico of the Temple of Peace was used. At one end a temple was dedicated to Minerva: only its massive basement survives. (Minerva, the ancient Etruscan goddess of crafts, was originally equated with Artemis. Later, as a goddess of wisdom, she became the counterpart of the Greek Athene.).
Forum Of Nerva on Blue Sky Background. Rome, Italy.
Beyond the temple and close to the enceinte wall are two enormous Corinthian columns, the so-called Colonnacce. In the attic between the columns is a high-relief of Minerva, after an original of the school of Skopas. In the rich frieze of the entablature Minerva (Athena) is seen teaching the arts of sewing and weaving and punishing Arachne, the Lydian girl who excelled in the art of weaving and had dared to challenge the goddess. In front of the Colonnacce is a section of the Argiletum.
During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the Fora were pillaged for their building material and robbed of their marbles and bronzes, and the area was later built over. The temple was still standing at the beginning of the 17 th c., when it was pulled down by Paul V to provide marble for the Fontana Paolina on the Janiculum. Drawings from the 16th century show us that at that time the temple was still standing and the dedicatory inscription mentioning Nerva could still be deciphered on the architrave.
Forum in 1606-Sadeler-1606
Vasi, Giuseppe, Forum of Nerva
Reconstruction Video – Forum of Nerva:
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Mamertine Prison in Rome, Italy. According to the legendary tradition that Saints Peter and Paul were imprisoned there.
High-status prisoners were kept here. Jugurtha, king of Numidia in Africa, was brought to Rome as a captive by Sulla. He starved to death here in 106 BC. After Caesar’s conquest of Gaul, the Gallic leader Vercingetorix lived incarcerated here for some years before being paraded through the Forum in Caesar’s triumph in 46 BC. These are just some of the eminent names recorded on one of the plaques beside the entrance to the upper cell, while the other provides a list of the Christian martyrs.
It was built originally as a cistern by Ancus Martins, the fourth king of Rome, around 640 B.C. (according to historian Titus Livius). An inscription on the front records that the building was restored in the 1st century A.D.
The lower dungeon excavated it out of the solid rock in 578 B.C. (according to Roman Writer Marcus Terentius Varro). It was then believed to have a healing property and used to baptize prisoners & guards in the prison.
Inside the Mamertine Prison
The altar in the lower chamber.
There are plaques on which names of the martyrs are listed. There is also an altar with the busts of the Apostles Peter & Paul who were incarcerated. It was decorated with an upside-down cross because St. Peter was crucified upside-down there in 64 A.D.
Plaque in Mamertine Prison – with the names of illustrious prisoners who were locked up.
Twelve feet underground, there was a lower secret room of the jail. It was known as Tullianum, named after Servius Tullius who was the builder of it. This ancient prison consisted of two subterranean dungeons, one below the other, with only one round aperture in the center of each vault, through which light, air, food, and men could pass. No other means of ventilation, drainage, or access existed. The walls of large stone blocks had rings fastened into them for securing the prisoners. Executions were made either by strangulation or starving to death. Dead bodies were dumped into the Tiber River via the sewer.
Le Carcer Tullianum – Illusturation by Jean Cloude Golvin.
Looking into the cell where Saint Peter was imprisoned.
Other parts of the small building have been used by the Vatican to show remodelings of the prison and multimedia shows and a film on the life of St Peter. You can also visit the 16th-century Church of San Giuseppe dei Falegnami: Giacomo Della Porta designed and built the church in 1538, which is the ‘Carpenters’ Church’ and so is dedicated to St Joseph. In the oratory are four columns of jasper and some finely worked benches.
Exploring Mamertine Prison
The eerie aura of Mamertine Prison is palpable to anyone who ventures within its walls. Descending into the lower levels, visitors can witness the remnants of an ancient cistern, where prisoners were once lowered by rope. The tight confines and suffocating air evoke a sense of claustrophobia, while the echoes of the past resonate in every corner.
Visiting Mamertine Prison is not only a physical experience but also a journey through a complex tapestry of emotions, ideas, and memories. It is a place where the ghosts of ancient Rome continue to tell their stories and remind us of the stark contrast between the empire’s grandeur and its dark underbelly.
To access Mamertine Prison, visitors must enter through a side entrance beneath the church of San Giuseppe dei Falegnami (Saint Joseph the Carpenter). The church itself is not open to the public, and an admission fee is required to enter the prison. Located directly across from the iconic Arch of Septimius Severus, Mamertine Prison is easily accessible from both the Colosseo Metro station (Line B) and the Colosseum.
The prison is open to visitors from Monday to Sunday, between 8:30 a.m. and 6:15 p.m. As you explore the haunting depths of Mamertine Prison, you will come face to face with a pivotal piece of Rome’s history, where the powerful tales of suffering, martyrdom, and injustice continue to reverberate through time.
Mamertine Prison Photo Gallery:
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