Temple of Hercules Victor, Rome, Italy

The Temple of Hercules Victor is a monopteros, a round temple of Greek 'peripteral' design completely encircled by a colonnade. Dating from the later 2nd century BC, and perhaps erected by L. Mummius Achaicus, conqueror of the Achaeans and destroyer of Corinth, the temple is 14.8 m in diameter and consists of a circular cella within a concentric ring of twenty Corinthian columns. These elements supported an architrave and roof, which have disappeared. The original wall of the cella, built of travertine and marble blocks, and nineteen of the originally twenty columns remain but the current tile roof was added later. Palladio's published reconstruction suggested a dome, though this was apparently erroneous. The temple is the earliest surviving marble building in Rome.

By 1132 the temple had been converted to a church, known as Santo Stefano alle Carozze. Additional restorations (and a fresco over the altar) were made in 1475. A plaque in the floor was dedicated by Sixtus IV. In the 17th century the church was rededicated to Santa Maria del Sole.

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Luca Scia (18 months ago)
The temple Of Ercole Vincitore or Olivario is the temple dedicated to the guard of all business people and merchants. We don't have to forget that we are in a place where during the old Times the Romans used to exchange goods like olive oil, meat and other itemes. For the Romans there was a god for everyone and everything. ERCOLE Vincitor was the one of the Business.

Vladyslav Bugrym (2 years ago)
Piazza Bocca della Verità (Italian: Square of the Mouth of Truth) is a square between Via Luigi Petroselli and Via della Greca in Rome (Italy), in the rione Ripa. The square lies in the ancient area of the Forum Boarium, just in front of the Tiber Island; it takes its name from the Bocca della Verità (Italian: Mouth of Truth), placed under the portico of the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin. Besides the church, dating back to the late Middle Ages, the square houses the Arcus Argentariorum, the Arch of Janus, the Temple of Hercules Victor and the Temple of Portunus, a deity related to the ancient river harbour. Piazza Bocca della Verità: the Temple of Hercules Victor and the Temple of Portunus The fountain in front of the two temples, called Fountain of the Tritons, released by Carlo Bizzaccheri under commission of Pope Clement XI, was erected in the square in 1715 it has an octagonal basis and portrays two tritons supporting a shell from which the water springs. The square was the place where, until 1868, the sentences of death were executed.

Jean Seah (2 years ago)
Fascinating historical site dedicated to Hercules.

justinnelj (2 years ago)
I just walked by the temple, but it is beautiful during the day, or illuminated at night! If you walk by during the evening you can also peek in at the nearby "bocca della verita," inaccessible at night, but visible from beyond the barrier

aber105631 (2 years ago)
This is a really cool structure but getting inside would make it even better.

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Dan Lundberg

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Hagios Demetrios

The Church of Saint Demetrius, or Hagios Demetrios, is the main sanctuary dedicated to Saint Demetrius, the patron saint of Thessaloniki. It is part of the site Palaeochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessaloniki on the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO since 1988.

The first church on the spot was constructed in the early 4th century AD, replacing a Roman bath. A century later, a prefect named Leontios replaced the small oratory with a larger, three-aisled basilica. Repeatedly gutted by fires, the church eventually was reconstructed as a five-aisled basilica in 629–634. This was the surviving form of the church much as it is today. The most important shrine in the city, it was probably larger than the local cathedral. The historic location of the latter is now unknown.

The church had an unusual shrine called the ciborium, a hexagonal, roofed structure at one side of the nave. It was made of or covered with silver. The structure had doors and inside was a couch or bed. Unusually, it did not hold any physical relics of the saint. The ciborium seems to have been a symbolic tomb. It was rebuilt at least once.

The basilica is famous for six extant mosaic panels, dated to the period between the latest reconstruction and the inauguration of the Byzantine Iconoclasm in 730. These mosaics depict St. Demetrius with officials responsible for the restoration of the church (called the founders, ktetors) and with children. An inscription below one of the images glorifies heaven for saving the people of Thessalonica from a pagan Slavic raid in 615.

Thessaloniki became part of the Ottoman Empire in 1430. About 60 years later, during the reign of Bayezid II, the church was converted into a mosque, known as the Kasımiye Camii after the local Ottoman mayor, Cezeri Kasım Pasha. The symbolic tomb however was kept open for Christian veneration. Other magnificent mosaics, recorded as covering the church interior, were lost either during the four centuries when it functioned as a mosque (1493–1912) or in the Great Thessaloniki Fire of 1917 that destroyed much of the city. It also destroyed the roof and upper walls of the church. Black-and-white photographs and good watercolour versions give an idea of the early Byzantine craftsmanship lost during the fire.

Following the Great Fire of 1917, it took decades to restore the church. Tombstones from the city"s Jewish cemetery - destroyed by the Greek and Nazi German authorities - were used as building materials in these restoration efforts in the 1940s. Archeological excavations conducted in the 1930s and 1940s revealed interesting artifacts that may be seen in a museum situated inside the church"s crypt. The excavations also uncovered the ruins of a Roman bath, where St. Demetrius was said to have been held prisoner and executed. A Roman well was also discovered. Scholars believe this is where soldiers dropped the body of St. Demetrius after his execution. After restoration, the church was reconsecrated in 1949.

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