During prior visits to Rome we frequently passed by the Largo Argentina. It's notable because the site rests well below the current streets that surround it, a visible reminder that Rome is a stratified city of many layers. Today you can see the remnants of temples built as early as the 3rd century BC. It is also presumed to be the site of Julius Caesar's assassination.
What's new is that until now we have never been able to walk among the ruins.
With the new access comes a new appreciation of the strata of Rome. When I was a student here my professor would often use a term "palimpsest" to describe how a new building would be superimposed on an earlier one or on an even larger site with vestiges of the earlier form still visible. Bill uses this word in his research, as well. Being at eye level with the ruins versus observing them from the street level, the stratification is apparent. Here is a medieval church that dates back to 1100s built on top of a temple ruin.
You can see the frescoes painted on the walls as well as the altar. In the 17th century an even newer place of worship was erected; it was subsequently demolished.
What used to fascinate us, besides finding ruins in the middle of the center of busy and car-congested Rome, were the cats. The Largo Argentina then and now provided a sanctuary for homeless cats. I'm happy to say that they're still there. Can you find two of them?
The renovated site allows visitors to view some of the excavated ruins that previously were not accessible.
Part of a colossus right hand
A dog above
While Rome is an extremely difficult city in which to navigate for anyone with a disability, the curators have made a conscious effort to bring the exhibit to the blind.
And what better way to demonstrate what's old is new again, than to bring you a Roman antiquities version of HGTV!
The exhibit ends with another colossal head.
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