The Temple of Minerva Medica is a ruined

nymphaeum A ''nymphaeum'' (Latin : ''nymphaea'') or ''nymphaion'' (), in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs. These monuments were originally natural grottoes, which tradition assigned as habit ...

Imperial Rome The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Romans conquered most of this during the Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of effective sole rule in 27 BC ...

which dates to the late 3rd or early 4th century CE. It is located between the

Via Labicana The Via Labicana was an ancient road of Italy, leading east-southeast from Rome. The course after the first six miles from Rome is not taken by any modern road, but it can be clearly traced from remains of pavement and buildings. It seems possibl ...

and

Aurelian Walls The Aurelian Walls () are a line of city walls built between 271 AD and 275 AD in Rome, Italy, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Aurelian. They superseded the earlier Servian Wall built during the 4th century BC. The walls enclosed all the ...

and just inside the line of the

Anio Vetus The Aniene (; ), formerly known as the Teverone, is a river in Lazio, Italy. It originates in the Apennines at Trevi nel Lazio and flows westward past Subiaco, Vicovaro, and Tivoli to join the Tiber in northern Rome. It formed the principal v ...

. Once part of the

Horti Liciniani The Horti Liciniani was a luxurious complex of an ancient Roman villa with large gardens and outdoor rooms originally belonging to the gens Licinia. It was located in Rome on the Esquiline Hill between via Labicana and via Prenestina, close to t ...

on the

Esquiline Hill The Esquiline Hill (; ; ) is one of the Seven Hills of Rome. Its southernmost cusp is the ''Oppius'' ( Oppian Hill). Etymology The origin of the name ''Esquiline'' is still under much debate. One view is that the hill was named after the ...

, it now faces the modern Via Giolitti. It was once thought to be the temple to Minerva Medica ("

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

the Doctor") mentioned by

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

and other sources. The

decagon In geometry, a decagon (from the Greek δέκα ''déka'' and γωνία ''gonía,'' "ten angles") is a ten-sided polygon or 10-gon.. The total sum of the interior angles of a simple decagon is 1440°. Regular decagon A '' regular decagon'' has a ...

al structure in ''

opus latericium 250px, Example of ''opus latericium'' on a tomb of the ancient Rome.html" ;"title="Appian Way in Rome">Appian Way in Rome. ''Opus latericium'' (Latin for "brick work") is an Ancient Rome, ancient Roman construction technique in which Course (arc ...

'' is relatively well preserved, though the full dome collapsed in 1828. It is surrounded on three sides with other chambers which were added at a later date. There is no mention of it in ancient literature or inscriptions. The structure represents a transition in Roman secular architecture between the octagonal dining room of the

Domus Aurea The Domus Aurea (Latin, "Golden House") was a vast landscaped complex built by the Roman Empire, Emperor Nero largely on the Oppian Hill in the heart of ancient Rome after the Great Fire of Rome, great fire in 64 AD had destroyed a large part ...

and the dome of the Pantheon, and the architecture of nearby Byzantine churches. The diameter of the hall was approximately 24 meters, and the height was 33 meters. Inside the nymphaeum, there are nine niches beside the entrance, and above these niches are ten corresponding round-arched windows. Both the interior and exterior walls were once covered with marble. In

Flavio Biondo Flavio Biondo (Latin Flavius Blondus) (1392 – June 4, 1463) was an Italian Renaissance humanist historian. He was one of the first historians to use a three-period division of history (Ancient, Medieval, Modern) and is known as one of the ...

's 15th-century ''Roma Instaurata'', these ruins are called ''Le Galluzze'', a name of uncertain meaning that had been applied earlier to some ruins near the basilica of

Santa Croce in Gerusalemme The Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem or Basilica di Santa Croce in Gerusalemme () is a Catholic Minor basilica and titular church in rione Esquilino, Rome, Italy. It is one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome. According to Christia ...

. Its incorrect identification as the Republican-era temple dates to the 17th century, based on the incorrect impression that the Athena Giustiniani had been found there. A similar building was built about 50 years later in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

, the central part of today's St Gereon's Basilica.Hans Georg Wehrens: ''Rom – Die christlichen Sakralbauten vom 4. bis zum 9. Jahrhundert – Ein Vademecum.'' (''Rome - The Christian sacred buildings from the 4th to the 9th century - A Vademecum''), publisher Herder, Freiburg 2016, pp. 313, 77, 74, 90, 30, 305, 265 File:Exterior in Full 01.jpg File:Via Giovanni Giolitti - Tempio di Minerva Medica - panoramio.jpg File:Tempio di Minerva Medica 21-09-2019 (1).jpg File:Rione XV Esquilino, Roma, Italy - panoramio (35).jpg

References

External links

Nymphaeum
*
Description in the site of the "Soprintendenza Speciale per il Colosseo, il MNR e l'Area Archeologica di Roma.
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Temple Of Minerva Medica (Nymphaeum) 4th-century BC religious buildings and structures Rotundas in Europe Rome R. XV Esquilino Minerva

See also

References

External links