Walks in Rome (Est. 2001)
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  • St Peter's Basilica
    • Altars >
      • Altar of St Joseph
      • Altar of St Gregory the Great in St Peter's Basilica in Rome
      • Altar of the Madonna of Succour
      • Altar of St Sebastian
      • Altar of the Lie
      • Altar of the Presentation of the Virgin
      • Altar of St Jerome
      • Altar of the Transfiguration
      • Altar of Pope Leo the Great
    • Monuments >
      • Countess Matilda of Canossa
      • Maria Clementina Sobieska
      • Queen Christina of Sweden
      • Pope Innocent VIII
      • Pope Paul III
      • Pope Gregory XIII
      • Pope Gregory XIV
      • Pope Leo XI
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      • Pope Pius VIII
      • Pope Gregory XVI
      • Pope Pius X
      • Pope Benedict XV
      • Pope Pius XI
      • Pope Pius XII
      • Pope John XXIII
      • The Stuarts
    • Portico >
      • Door of Death
      • Door of Good and Evil
      • Central Door
      • Door of the Sacraments
      • Holy Door
    • Pieta
    • Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament
    • Cathedra Petri
    • Crossing >
      • Baldacchino
      • Confessio
      • Dome
      • St Longinus
      • St Helena
      • St Veronica
      • St Andrew
    • St Peter
    • Chapel of the Choir
    • Chapel of the Baptistery
    • Nave
  • Vatican Museums
    • Borgia Apartment
    • Cappella Niccolina
    • Gallery of the Candelabras
    • Gallery of the Maps
    • Gallery of the Tapestries
    • 'Raphael' Tapestries
    • Sala di Costantino
    • Sala dei Chiaroscuri
    • Stanza della Segnatura
    • Stanza di Eliodoro
    • Stanza dell' Incendio
  • Sistine Chapel
    • North Wall
    • South Wall
    • East Wall
    • Ceiling: Part One >
      • Ceiling: Part Two
      • Ceiling: Part Three
    • The Last Judgement
  • Fountains
    • Fontana della Barcaccia
    • Fontana di Piazza delle Scole
    • Fountain of Moses
    • Fountain of Neptune
    • Fountains of Piazza Farnese
    • Fountain of the Acqua Paola
    • Fountain of the Bees
    • Fountain of the Cannonball
    • Fountain of the Four Rivers
    • Fountain of the Goddess Roma
    • Fountain of the Moor
    • Fountain of the Naiads
    • Fountain of the Pantheon
    • Fountains of Piazza del Popolo
    • Fountain of the Porter
    • Fountains of St Peter's Square
    • Fountain of the Seahorses
    • Fountain of the Triton
    • Fountain of the Turtles
    • Four Fountains
    • Rioni Fountains
    • Street Fountains
    • Trevi Fountain
    • Venice Marries the Sea
  • Churches
    • Chiesa del Gesù >
      • Cappella di Sant' Ignazio
    • Chiesa Nuova
    • Lateran Baptistery
    • San Bartolomeo all' Isola
    • San Benedetto in Piscinula
    • San Carlo ai Catinari
    • San Carlo al Corso
    • San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane
    • San Clemente >
      • Cappella Castiglione
    • San Crisogono
    • San Francesco a Ripa >
      • Cappella Altieri
      • Cappella Rospigliosi-Pallavicini
    • San Giorgio in Velabro
    • San Giovanni a Porta Latina
    • San Giovanni dei Fiorentini
    • San Giovanni in Laterano >
      • Cappella Corsini
    • San Girolamo della Carità >
      • Cappella Antamoro
      • Cappella Spada
    • San Gregorio Magno
    • San Lorenzo fuori le Mura
    • San Lorenzo in Damaso
    • San Lorenzo in Lucina
    • San Luigi dei Francesi >
      • Cappella Contarelli
    • San Marco
    • San Pancrazio
    • San Paolo fuori le Mura
    • San Pietro in Montorio
    • San Pietro in Vincoli
    • San Saba
    • San Sebastiano fuori le Mura >
      • Cappella Albani
    • San Silvestro in Capite
    • San Vitale
    • Sant' Agnese fuori le Mura
    • Sant' Agnese in Agone
    • Sant' Agostino
    • Sant' Anastasia
    • Sant' Andrea al Quirinale
    • Sant' Andrea della Valle
    • Sant' Andrea delle Fratte
    • Sant' Antonio dei Portoghesi
    • Sant' Eustachio
    • Sant' Ignazio di Loyola
    • Sant' Ivo alla Sapienza
    • Santa Caterina dei Funari
    • Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
    • Santa Costanza
    • Santa Croce in Gerusalemme >
      • Chapel of St Helen
    • Santa Francesca Romana
    • Santa Maria degli Angeli
    • Santa Maria del Popolo >
      • Cappella Cerasi
      • Cappella Chigi
    • Santa Maria del Priorato
    • Santa Maria della Pace >
      • Chigi Chapel
      • Cloister of Bramante
    • Santa Maria della Vittoria >
      • Cappella Cornaro
    • Santa Maria dell' Anima
    • Santa Maria dell' Orazione e Morte
    • Santa Maria dell' Orto
    • Santa Maria di Loreto
    • Santa Maria in Aracoeli >
      • Cappella Bufalini
    • Santa Maria in Campitelli
    • Santa Maria in Cosmedin
    • Santa Maria in Domnica
    • Santa Maria in Trastevere >
      • Cappella Altemps
    • Santa Maria in Via
    • Santa Maria Maddalena
    • Santa Maria Maggiore >
      • Baptistery
      • Cappella Paolina
      • Cappella Sistina
    • Santa Maria sopra Minerva >
      • Cappella Carafa
      • Cappella dell' Annunziata
    • Santa Prassede
    • Santa Pudenziana
    • Santa Sabina >
      • Chapel of St Catherine
      • Chapel of St Hyacinth
    • Santa Susanna
    • Santi Apostoli
    • Santi Cosma e Damiano
    • Santi Domenico e Sisto
    • Santi Giovanni e Paolo
    • Santi Luca e Martina
    • Santi Nereo e Achilleo
    • Santi Quattro Coronati
    • Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio
    • Santissima Trinità degli Spagnoli
    • Santissima Trinità di Monti
    • Santissimo Nome di Maria
  • Palatine
  • Forum
    • Arch of Septimius Severus
    • Arch of Titus
    • Basilica of Maxentius
    • Curia Julia
    • Temple of Antoninus Pius
    • Temple of Castor and Pollux
    • Temple of Saturn
    • Temple of Venus and Rome
    • Temple of Vesta
  • Ancient Monuments
    • Aqueducts
    • Ara Pacis
    • Arch of Constantine
    • Arch of the Money-Changers
    • Arch of Janus
    • Aurelian Walls
    • Baths of Caracalla
    • Baths of Diocletian
    • Castel Sant' Angelo
    • Catacombs of Domitilla
    • Circus Maxentius
    • Circus Maximus
    • Colosseum
    • Column of Marcus Aurelius
    • Column of Trajan
    • Forum of Augustus
    • Forum of Trajan
    • Mausoleum of Augustus
    • Nymphaeum
    • Pantheon
    • Ponte Fabricio
    • Ponte Milvio
    • Ponte Rotto
    • Ponte Sant' Angelo
    • Porta Maggiore
    • Porta San Paolo
    • Porta San Sebastiano
    • Portico of Octavia
    • Pyramid of Cestius
    • Temple of Hadrian
    • Temple of Hercules
    • Temple of Portunus
    • Theatre of Balbus
    • Theatre of Marcellus
    • Theatre of Pompey
    • Tomb of Caecilia Metella
    • Via Appia
  • Obelisks
    • 'Minerveo' Obelisk
    • 'Flaminio' Obelisk
    • 'Matteiano' Obelisk
    • 'Lateran' Obelisk
    • 'Dogali' Obelisk
    • 'Macuteo' Obelisk
    • 'Solare' Obelisk
    • 'Vatican' Obelisk
    • 'Agonalis' Obelisk
    • 'Sallustiano' Obelisk
    • 'Quirinale' Obelisk
    • 'Esquiline' Obelisk
    • 'Pinciano' Obelisk
    • 'Mediceo' Obelisk
    • 'Torlonia' Obelisks
    • 'Mussolini' Obelisk
    • 'Marconi' Obelisk
  • Mosaics
    • S. Agnese fuori le Mura
    • S. Cecilia in Trastevere
    • S. Clemente
    • S. Costanza
    • S. Francesca Romana
    • S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura
    • S. Marco
    • S. Maria in Domnica
    • S. Maria in Trastevere
    • S. Maria Maggiore
    • S. Prassede >
      • S. Zenone
    • S. Pudenziana
    • S. Stefano
    • S. Teodoro
    • S. Venanzio
    • Ss. Cosma e Damiano
    • Ss. Nereo e Achilleo
  • Gallery
    • Ancient Rome
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    • Domes
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    • Street Shrines
  • Palazzi
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    • Palazzo Farnesina
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    • Palazzo Madama
    • Palazzo Spada
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    • Villa Giulia
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    • Villa Medici
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  • Piazzas
    • Campo de' Fiori
    • Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta
    • Piazza del Campidoglio
    • Piazza del Popolo
    • Piazza del Quirinale
    • Piazza della Repubblica
    • Piazza Farnese
    • Piazza Navona
    • Piazza San Pietro
    • Piazza Vittorio
  • Miscellaneous
    • A Calendar of Saints
    • A Literary Tour
    • Antico Caffè Greco
    • Art of the Cosmati
    • Babington's Tea Rooms
    • Borromini & the Baroque
    • Catacombs
    • Cloisters
    • Column of the Immaculate Conception
    • Domes
    • EUR
    • Fascism
    • House of the Owls
    • Jewish Ghetto
    • Jubilee Years
    • Knights of Malta
    • Mithraism
    • Monumental Complex of S. Spirito in Sassia
    • Ponte Sisto
    • 'Protestant' Cemetery
    • Quartiere Coppedè
    • Spanish Steps
    • 'Talking' Statues
    • Tiber Island
    • Villa Borghese
    • Vittoriano
  • Rioni
    • Rione I - Monti
    • Rione II - Trevi
    • Rione III - Colonna
    • Rione IV - Campo Marzio
    • Rione V - Ponte
    • Rione VI - Parione
    • Rione VII - Regola
    • Rione VIII - Sant' Eustachio
    • Rione IX - Pigna
    • Rione X - Campitelli
    • Rione XI - Sant' Angelo
    • Rione XII - Ripa
    • Rione XIII - Trastevere
    • Rione XIV - Borgo
  • On This Day in Italy
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  • Pictures from Italy
    • Florence >
      • A Literary Tour
      • Anna Maria Luisa: Last of the Medici
      • Casa-Galleria Vichi
      • Column of Justice
      • Column of St Zenobius
      • Cosimo I de' Medici
      • Cosimo II de' Medici
      • Costanza Bonarelli
      • David With Fig Leaf
      • Elizabeth Barrett Browning
      • Equestrian Statue of Cosimo I de' Medici
      • Equestrian Statue of Ferdinando I de' Medici
      • Festina Lente
      • Floods
      • Fontana del Bacchino
      • Fontana dei Puttini
      • Fountain of Neptune
      • Fountains of the Marine Monsters
      • Gian Gastone de' Medici
      • Girolamo Savonarola
      • Images of the Annunciation
      • Little Devil
      • Monument to Cellini
      • Palazzo Bartolini-Salimbeni
      • Palazzo Bianca Cappello
      • Palazzo Fenzi
      • Palazzo Viviani
      • Perseus and Medusa
      • Piazza Santa Maria Novella
      • Pope Leo XI
      • Porta della Mandorla
      • Rape of the Sabine Woman
      • Santa Maria Novella
      • Canons' Palace
      • Statue of Dante
      • Theft of the Century
      • Torre del Arnolfo
      • Twelve Good Men
      • Villa Gamberaia
      • Wheel of the Innocents
      • 'Wine Windows'
    • Lazio >
      • Bomarzo: Parco dei Mostri
      • Viterbo: Santa Rosa
    • Tuscany >
      • Arezzo: Giorgio Vasari
      • Lucca: Puccini
      • Pistoia: Ospedale del Ceppo
      • Siena: The Balzana
      • Siena: The Palio
    • Venice >
      • Ab Urbe Condita
      • Acqua Alta
      • Bartolomeo Colleoni
      • Barque of Dante
      • Burano
      • Caffè Florian
      • Daniele Manin
      • Flagpoles
      • Giustina Rossi
      • Gondolas
      • Harry's Bar
      • Henry James
      • House of Three Eyes
      • King Victor Emmanuel II
      • Map of Venice
      • Martinmas
      • Master of the House
      • Palazzo Contarini Fasan
      • Ponte Borgoloco
      • Ponte Chiodo
      • Punta del Dogana
      • Scacciadiavoli
      • Shrine of St Lucia
      • Sior Antonio Rioba
      • The 'Book Shitter'
      • The Lion's Mouth
      • Tommaso Rangone
      • Torcello
      • Venus
      • 'Viennese Oranges'
      • Wellheads
      • Winged Lions
  • Popes: 1417-Present
    • Papal Coats of Arms

Walking Tours of Rome

Temple of Vesta


Map
Temple of Vesta, Forum, Rome
Temple of Vesta

The Temple of Vesta was a circular edifice, 15 metres in diameter, and made up of 20 Corinthian columns. All temples to Vesta were round, as the design was supposed to recall the primitive straw and wooden huts of the early Romans.

The Temple of Vesta was first built by Numa Pompilius, Rome's second king. The temple burned down many times, but was always immediately rebuilt, the last time by the emperor Septimius Severus (r. 193-211) and his wife Julia Domna. What we see today is a partial reconstruction from the 1930s. 
​
Vesta was the goddess of the household hearth, a figure of great importance. Her temple, however, did not contain a statue of the goddess, only a sacred fire.
The Romans believed that the sacred fire was closely tied to the fortunes of the city; its  extinction would lead to disaster falling on Rome. 

The temple was looked after by a small group of priestesses known as the Vestal Virgins, handmaidens of Vesta. It was their solemn responsibility to guard the sacred fire and make sure it didn't go out. 

Only girls between the ages of six and ten from patrician families were eligible to become vestals. When a position became vacant twenty candidates were chosen by the Pontifex Maximus (Rome's chief priest) and from these one was chosen by lot. The girl had to take an oath of chastity and serve for 30 years after which she was released from her vows and was free to marry. If a Vestal broke her vow of chastity, her punishment was severe: she was buried alive in a small underground chamber in the Campus Sceleratus (Evil Field) and left to die.

If a Vestal let the sacred fire go out, she was whipped by the Pontifex Maximus, who then had to rekindle the flame using two sticks of wood from a propitious tree (felix  arbor).  

The Vestals enjoyed special privileges, such as being able to own and administer their own property. When they went out they were preceded by a lictor and had complete right of way on the streets. Any injury to them was punishable by death. At the games, they were allowed to share the front places with the senators and the ladies of the Imperial house. The vestals took precedence over every other woman save the wife of the emperor and shared with her alone the privilege of travelling through Rome in a carriage. If they chanced to meet a prisoner on his way to execution, they had the right to pardon him.

Inside the temple was a secret space known as an adytum, a sanctuary which contained the Palladium, a statue of Pallas Athena, which, it was believed, Aeneas had taken from Troy.  No one apart from the Vestals and the Pontifex Maximus was allowed inside the adytum. 

walking Tours of Rome

Copyright © David Lown 2001-2023. All Rights Reserved. 
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  • Images
  • St Peter's Basilica
    • Altars >
      • Altar of St Joseph
      • Altar of St Gregory the Great in St Peter's Basilica in Rome
      • Altar of the Madonna of Succour
      • Altar of St Sebastian
      • Altar of the Lie
      • Altar of the Presentation of the Virgin
      • Altar of St Jerome
      • Altar of the Transfiguration
      • Altar of Pope Leo the Great
    • Monuments >
      • Countess Matilda of Canossa
      • Maria Clementina Sobieska
      • Queen Christina of Sweden
      • Pope Innocent VIII
      • Pope Paul III
      • Pope Gregory XIII
      • Pope Gregory XIV
      • Pope Leo XI
      • Pope Urban VIII
      • Pope Alexander VII
      • Pope Clement X
      • Pope Innocent XI
      • Pope Alexander VIII
      • Pope Innocent XII
      • Pope Benedict XIV
      • Pope Clement XIII
      • Pope Pius VII
      • Pope Leo XII
      • Pope Pius VIII
      • Pope Gregory XVI
      • Pope Pius X
      • Pope Benedict XV
      • Pope Pius XI
      • Pope Pius XII
      • Pope John XXIII
      • The Stuarts
    • Portico >
      • Door of Death
      • Door of Good and Evil
      • Central Door
      • Door of the Sacraments
      • Holy Door
    • Pieta
    • Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament
    • Cathedra Petri
    • Crossing >
      • Baldacchino
      • Confessio
      • Dome
      • St Longinus
      • St Helena
      • St Veronica
      • St Andrew
    • St Peter
    • Chapel of the Choir
    • Chapel of the Baptistery
    • Nave
  • Vatican Museums
    • Borgia Apartment
    • Cappella Niccolina
    • Gallery of the Candelabras
    • Gallery of the Maps
    • Gallery of the Tapestries
    • 'Raphael' Tapestries
    • Sala di Costantino
    • Sala dei Chiaroscuri
    • Stanza della Segnatura
    • Stanza di Eliodoro
    • Stanza dell' Incendio
  • Sistine Chapel
    • North Wall
    • South Wall
    • East Wall
    • Ceiling: Part One >
      • Ceiling: Part Two
      • Ceiling: Part Three
    • The Last Judgement
  • Fountains
    • Fontana della Barcaccia
    • Fontana di Piazza delle Scole
    • Fountain of Moses
    • Fountain of Neptune
    • Fountains of Piazza Farnese
    • Fountain of the Acqua Paola
    • Fountain of the Bees
    • Fountain of the Cannonball
    • Fountain of the Four Rivers
    • Fountain of the Goddess Roma
    • Fountain of the Moor
    • Fountain of the Naiads
    • Fountain of the Pantheon
    • Fountains of Piazza del Popolo
    • Fountain of the Porter
    • Fountains of St Peter's Square
    • Fountain of the Seahorses
    • Fountain of the Triton
    • Fountain of the Turtles
    • Four Fountains
    • Rioni Fountains
    • Street Fountains
    • Trevi Fountain
    • Venice Marries the Sea
  • Churches
    • Chiesa del Gesù >
      • Cappella di Sant' Ignazio
    • Chiesa Nuova
    • Lateran Baptistery
    • San Bartolomeo all' Isola
    • San Benedetto in Piscinula
    • San Carlo ai Catinari
    • San Carlo al Corso
    • San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane
    • San Clemente >
      • Cappella Castiglione
    • San Crisogono
    • San Francesco a Ripa >
      • Cappella Altieri
      • Cappella Rospigliosi-Pallavicini
    • San Giorgio in Velabro
    • San Giovanni a Porta Latina
    • San Giovanni dei Fiorentini
    • San Giovanni in Laterano >
      • Cappella Corsini
    • San Girolamo della Carità >
      • Cappella Antamoro
      • Cappella Spada
    • San Gregorio Magno
    • San Lorenzo fuori le Mura
    • San Lorenzo in Damaso
    • San Lorenzo in Lucina
    • San Luigi dei Francesi >
      • Cappella Contarelli
    • San Marco
    • San Pancrazio
    • San Paolo fuori le Mura
    • San Pietro in Montorio
    • San Pietro in Vincoli
    • San Saba
    • San Sebastiano fuori le Mura >
      • Cappella Albani
    • San Silvestro in Capite
    • San Vitale
    • Sant' Agnese fuori le Mura
    • Sant' Agnese in Agone
    • Sant' Agostino
    • Sant' Anastasia
    • Sant' Andrea al Quirinale
    • Sant' Andrea della Valle
    • Sant' Andrea delle Fratte
    • Sant' Antonio dei Portoghesi
    • Sant' Eustachio
    • Sant' Ignazio di Loyola
    • Sant' Ivo alla Sapienza
    • Santa Caterina dei Funari
    • Santa Cecilia in Trastevere
    • Santa Costanza
    • Santa Croce in Gerusalemme >
      • Chapel of St Helen
    • Santa Francesca Romana
    • Santa Maria degli Angeli
    • Santa Maria del Popolo >
      • Cappella Cerasi
      • Cappella Chigi
    • Santa Maria del Priorato
    • Santa Maria della Pace >
      • Chigi Chapel
      • Cloister of Bramante
    • Santa Maria della Vittoria >
      • Cappella Cornaro
    • Santa Maria dell' Anima
    • Santa Maria dell' Orazione e Morte
    • Santa Maria dell' Orto
    • Santa Maria di Loreto
    • Santa Maria in Aracoeli >
      • Cappella Bufalini
    • Santa Maria in Campitelli
    • Santa Maria in Cosmedin
    • Santa Maria in Domnica
    • Santa Maria in Trastevere >
      • Cappella Altemps
    • Santa Maria in Via
    • Santa Maria Maddalena
    • Santa Maria Maggiore >
      • Baptistery
      • Cappella Paolina
      • Cappella Sistina
    • Santa Maria sopra Minerva >
      • Cappella Carafa
      • Cappella dell' Annunziata
    • Santa Prassede
    • Santa Pudenziana
    • Santa Sabina >
      • Chapel of St Catherine
      • Chapel of St Hyacinth
    • Santa Susanna
    • Santi Apostoli
    • Santi Cosma e Damiano
    • Santi Domenico e Sisto
    • Santi Giovanni e Paolo
    • Santi Luca e Martina
    • Santi Nereo e Achilleo
    • Santi Quattro Coronati
    • Santi Vincenzo e Anastasio
    • Santissima Trinità degli Spagnoli
    • Santissima Trinità di Monti
    • Santissimo Nome di Maria
  • Palatine
  • Forum
    • Arch of Septimius Severus
    • Arch of Titus
    • Basilica of Maxentius
    • Curia Julia
    • Temple of Antoninus Pius
    • Temple of Castor and Pollux
    • Temple of Saturn
    • Temple of Venus and Rome
    • Temple of Vesta
  • Ancient Monuments
    • Aqueducts
    • Ara Pacis
    • Arch of Constantine
    • Arch of the Money-Changers
    • Arch of Janus
    • Aurelian Walls
    • Baths of Caracalla
    • Baths of Diocletian
    • Castel Sant' Angelo
    • Catacombs of Domitilla
    • Circus Maxentius
    • Circus Maximus
    • Colosseum
    • Column of Marcus Aurelius
    • Column of Trajan
    • Forum of Augustus
    • Forum of Trajan
    • Mausoleum of Augustus
    • Nymphaeum
    • Pantheon
    • Ponte Fabricio
    • Ponte Milvio
    • Ponte Rotto
    • Ponte Sant' Angelo
    • Porta Maggiore
    • Porta San Paolo
    • Porta San Sebastiano
    • Portico of Octavia
    • Pyramid of Cestius
    • Temple of Hadrian
    • Temple of Hercules
    • Temple of Portunus
    • Theatre of Balbus
    • Theatre of Marcellus
    • Theatre of Pompey
    • Tomb of Caecilia Metella
    • Via Appia
  • Obelisks
    • 'Minerveo' Obelisk
    • 'Flaminio' Obelisk
    • 'Matteiano' Obelisk
    • 'Lateran' Obelisk
    • 'Dogali' Obelisk
    • 'Macuteo' Obelisk
    • 'Solare' Obelisk
    • 'Vatican' Obelisk
    • 'Agonalis' Obelisk
    • 'Sallustiano' Obelisk
    • 'Quirinale' Obelisk
    • 'Esquiline' Obelisk
    • 'Pinciano' Obelisk
    • 'Mediceo' Obelisk
    • 'Torlonia' Obelisks
    • 'Mussolini' Obelisk
    • 'Marconi' Obelisk
  • Mosaics
    • S. Agnese fuori le Mura
    • S. Cecilia in Trastevere
    • S. Clemente
    • S. Costanza
    • S. Francesca Romana
    • S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura
    • S. Marco
    • S. Maria in Domnica
    • S. Maria in Trastevere
    • S. Maria Maggiore
    • S. Prassede >
      • S. Zenone
    • S. Pudenziana
    • S. Stefano
    • S. Teodoro
    • S. Venanzio
    • Ss. Cosma e Damiano
    • Ss. Nereo e Achilleo
  • Gallery
    • Ancient Rome
    • Churches
    • Domes
    • Fountains
    • Old Photographs
    • Palaces
    • Street Shrines
  • Palazzi
    • Palazzo Barberini
    • Palazzo del Quirinale
    • Palazzo della Cancelleria
    • Palazzo della Consulta
    • Palazzo delle Esposizioni
    • Palazzo Farnese
    • Palazzo Farnesina
    • Palazzo Laterano
    • Palazzo Madama
    • Palazzo Spada
    • Palazzo Venezia
    • Villa Giulia
    • Villa Farnesina
    • Villa Medici
  • Galleries & Museums
    • Galleria Borghese
    • Galleria Colonna
    • Galleria Doria-Pamphilj
    • Musei Capitolini
  • Piazzas
    • Campo de' Fiori
    • Piazza dei Cavalieri di Malta
    • Piazza del Campidoglio
    • Piazza del Popolo
    • Piazza del Quirinale
    • Piazza della Repubblica
    • Piazza Farnese
    • Piazza Navona
    • Piazza San Pietro
    • Piazza Vittorio
  • Miscellaneous
    • A Calendar of Saints
    • A Literary Tour
    • Antico Caffè Greco
    • Art of the Cosmati
    • Babington's Tea Rooms
    • Borromini & the Baroque
    • Catacombs
    • Cloisters
    • Column of the Immaculate Conception
    • Domes
    • EUR
    • Fascism
    • House of the Owls
    • Jewish Ghetto
    • Jubilee Years
    • Knights of Malta
    • Mithraism
    • Monumental Complex of S. Spirito in Sassia
    • Ponte Sisto
    • 'Protestant' Cemetery
    • Quartiere Coppedè
    • Spanish Steps
    • 'Talking' Statues
    • Tiber Island
    • Villa Borghese
    • Vittoriano
  • Rioni
    • Rione I - Monti
    • Rione II - Trevi
    • Rione III - Colonna
    • Rione IV - Campo Marzio
    • Rione V - Ponte
    • Rione VI - Parione
    • Rione VII - Regola
    • Rione VIII - Sant' Eustachio
    • Rione IX - Pigna
    • Rione X - Campitelli
    • Rione XI - Sant' Angelo
    • Rione XII - Ripa
    • Rione XIII - Trastevere
    • Rione XIV - Borgo
  • On This Day in Italy
    • January
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  • Pictures from Italy
    • Florence >
      • A Literary Tour
      • Anna Maria Luisa: Last of the Medici
      • Casa-Galleria Vichi
      • Column of Justice
      • Column of St Zenobius
      • Cosimo I de' Medici
      • Cosimo II de' Medici
      • Costanza Bonarelli
      • David With Fig Leaf
      • Elizabeth Barrett Browning
      • Equestrian Statue of Cosimo I de' Medici
      • Equestrian Statue of Ferdinando I de' Medici
      • Festina Lente
      • Floods
      • Fontana del Bacchino
      • Fontana dei Puttini
      • Fountain of Neptune
      • Fountains of the Marine Monsters
      • Gian Gastone de' Medici
      • Girolamo Savonarola
      • Images of the Annunciation
      • Little Devil
      • Monument to Cellini
      • Palazzo Bartolini-Salimbeni
      • Palazzo Bianca Cappello
      • Palazzo Fenzi
      • Palazzo Viviani
      • Perseus and Medusa
      • Piazza Santa Maria Novella
      • Pope Leo XI
      • Porta della Mandorla
      • Rape of the Sabine Woman
      • Santa Maria Novella
      • Canons' Palace
      • Statue of Dante
      • Theft of the Century
      • Torre del Arnolfo
      • Twelve Good Men
      • Villa Gamberaia
      • Wheel of the Innocents
      • 'Wine Windows'
    • Lazio >
      • Bomarzo: Parco dei Mostri
      • Viterbo: Santa Rosa
    • Tuscany >
      • Arezzo: Giorgio Vasari
      • Lucca: Puccini
      • Pistoia: Ospedale del Ceppo
      • Siena: The Balzana
      • Siena: The Palio
    • Venice >
      • Ab Urbe Condita
      • Acqua Alta
      • Bartolomeo Colleoni
      • Barque of Dante
      • Burano
      • Caffè Florian
      • Daniele Manin
      • Flagpoles
      • Giustina Rossi
      • Gondolas
      • Harry's Bar
      • Henry James
      • House of Three Eyes
      • King Victor Emmanuel II
      • Map of Venice
      • Martinmas
      • Master of the House
      • Palazzo Contarini Fasan
      • Ponte Borgoloco
      • Ponte Chiodo
      • Punta del Dogana
      • Scacciadiavoli
      • Shrine of St Lucia
      • Sior Antonio Rioba
      • The 'Book Shitter'
      • The Lion's Mouth
      • Tommaso Rangone
      • Torcello
      • Venus
      • 'Viennese Oranges'
      • Wellheads
      • Winged Lions
  • Popes: 1417-Present
    • Papal Coats of Arms