Thought to have been the largest temple in Rome, the Templum Veneris et Romae, in the heart of the Roman Forum and a mere slingshot from the Colosseum, has just been reopened after 26 years of restoration. Incredible but true, the area was used as a car park until the 1980’s.
The temple of the Vestal Virgins was commissioned by the Emperor Hadrian in the 2nd century and once had dozens of enormous white marble columns supporting a huge vaulted ceiling – today 16 of these columns remain.
“This monument should be the envy of the world, but it was completely abandoned and left in the most degraded state,” Francesco Maria Giro, the junior culture minister, said at the opening ceremony.
Tickets for the Colosseum (Roman Forum and Temple of Venus included)