The Temple of Porto (Tempio di Portuno) in Rome is located on the Bull Forum (Il Foro Boario), on the banks of the Tiber. In ancient Rome, near the temple there was a port and a market where livestock was traded. The ancient Roman temple of Portune is one of the few surviving buildings of antiquity.
Story
The Temple of Portune is dedicated to Portuno or Portumn - originally the ancient god of keys, gates, barns and cattle. Later, the people united the words "porta" - the gate and "portus" - the bay. Porto also became the god of the rivers and, according to legend, gave the sailors a calm voyage. A celebration of Portunalia was held in his honor, when, as expected, the old keys were burned in flames or brought to the forum.
An architectural monument from the time of the Republic, which we can now observe dates back to the 1st century BC. e., Under the sanctuary in 1947 the ruins of a volumetric structure of the 4th-3rd centuries were found. BC e. This is probably part of the foundation of the previous temple of Portune. From the Renaissance to the 20th century, this ancient pseudo-periper was mistaken for the sanctuary of the goddess Fortuna Virile.
In 872, the church became the Christian church of Santa Maria in Gradelis (chiesa Santa Maria Secundicerii), later the Church of St. Mary of Egypt (Santa Maria Egiziaca), the patroness of penitent women. Thanks to this, the Temple of Portuna survived, and on its walls we can observe frescoes with motives of the life of the Virgin Mary (madre di Gesu). The Temple of Porto and the nearby Temple of Hercules (Tempio di Ercole Vincitore) recreate the picture of Rome at the beginning of our era.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, the church has been undergoing restoration - the decorative elements of the late erases were removed, the walls and columns were restored, the frescoes were preserved, the door was changed. A new wooden roof was built, the ancient tiles were restored, and a drainage system was developed. The stage of restoration of the facade columns included treatment with biocide, cleaning, and replacement of beams with stainless steel reinforcements.
The Temple of Fortune is included in the university curriculum as an example of the classical architecture of Ancient Rome.
Description
The plan of the Temple of Portune is a rectangle measuring approximately 10.5 by 19 meters. The closed inner sanctuary - cella continues the portico, surrounded by six columns with bases, trunks and capitals. The portico is called tetrastilic because of the four columns in the foreground.
The facades are decorated with half columns or pilasters - five on each side and four on the south wall. Capitals of corner columns differ from other capitals in double curls, forming right angles. The belt above the pilasters was decorated with garlands, cupids and ornaments of bull heads.
The high foundation of the temple is poured with concrete, the supporting structures are made of travertine, other parts are made of volcanic tuff. A high foundation was erected as flood protection. The decorative gypsum coating, which imitated marble and hid the dark color of tuff, was not preserved at all. The use of materials with greater strength than clay blocks and wood, which are traditional for Italian structures of brick blocks, is evidence of changes in the architectural values of the Mediterranean at the end of the first century before Christ.
How to get there
- Bus routes: 44, 83, 160, 170, 716, 781, C3, N3 or N19 to the stop "Bocca Della Verita"; 51, 81, 85, 87, 118, 160, 628, 715, C3 to the Greca stop.
- You can take the metro to Circo Massimo station on line B and walk along the Circus Grand on foot.
The temple is located on Piazza Bocca della Verita, next to the Temple of Hercules and is closed to visitors, you can only see the facade.
