ROME — The Temple of Venus and of Rome – once one of Rome’s most majestic shrines – reopened to the public on Thursday after a long restoration. “This temple has been both a school and course of study for many,” said Claudia Del Monte, who began working on the restoration 23 years ago and directed the project.
The temple, which consists mostly of ruins and columns both from the chamber and the perimeter of the ancient building (part of which was incorporated into a church), was restored to consolidate the structure and allow the ancient building to be more easily studied. “We’re introducing new itineraries even as we work to better monitor the buildings,” said Roberto Cecchi, a culture ministry official who formally oversaw the most recent phase of restoration.
Begun by the Emperor Hadrian and inaugurated in A.D. 141 by his successor, Antoninus Pius, the temple was later restored after a fire in the fourth century. It was built on what was once the vestibule of Nero’s Domus Aurea (his magnificent “Golden Palace”) where the Colossus of Nero was originally situated (the statue was moved next to the Flavian amphitheater which then became known as the Colosseum).
Deputy Culture Minister Francesco Giro said the reopening of the temple was part of a larger program involving the safeguarding of Rome’s archaeological sites. The restoration, he said, was an indication that the Italian government “was making every effort” to protect its ancient patrimony. This week, Culture Minister Sandro Bondi was called on to resign after the so-called “House of the Gladiators” collapsed in the ruins of ancient Pompeii on Saturday. Critics accuse the minister of neglect and of adopting stop-gap measures at the city buried by Vesuvius in 79 A.D. rather than adequately ensuring long-term maintenance.
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