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Vulcanal

1st-century BC religious buildings and structures1st-century religious buildings and structures8th-century BC religious buildings and structuresAncient Roman religionHephaestus
Religious buildings and structures in RomeRoman ForumRoman temples by deityRome R. X CampitelliTopography of the ancient city of Rome
Volcanal 001
Volcanal 001

The Shrine of Vulcan (Italian: Volcanale), or Vulcanal, or Volcanal, was an 8th-century BC sacred precinct on the future site of the Roman Forum in Rome, modern Italy. Dedicated to Vulcan, the Roman god of fire, it was traditionally considered to commemorate the spot where the legendary figures Romulus and Tatius concluded the peace treaty between the tribes known as the Latins — on the Palatine Hill — and the Sabines — on the Quirinal and Esquiline. This famous merger of the hill-villages was said to be the foundation of the Roman state.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Vulcanal (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Vulcanal
Via di San Teodoro, Rome Municipio Roma I

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Latitude Longitude
N 41.892727777778 ° E 12.484566666667 °
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Forum Romanum

Via di San Teodoro
00184 Rome, Municipio Roma I
Lazio, Italy
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Volcanal 001
Volcanal 001
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Column of Phocas
Column of Phocas

The Column of Phocas (Italian: Colonna di Foca) is a Roman monumental column in the Roman Forum of Rome, Italy, built when Rome was part of the Eastern Roman Empire after reconquest from the Kingdom of the Ostrogoths. Erected in front of the Rostra and dedicated or rededicated in honour of the Eastern Roman Emperor Phocas on August 1, 608 AD, it was the last addition made to the Forum Romanum. The fluted Corinthian column stands 13.6 m (44 ft) tall on its cubical white marble socle. On stylistic grounds, the column seems to have been made in the 2nd century for an unknown structure, and then recycled for the present monument. Likewise, the socle was recycled from its original use supporting a statue dedicated to Diocletian; the former inscription was chiselled away to provide a space for the later text. The base of the column was uncovered in 1813, and the inscription on it reads, in Latin: Optimo clementiss[imo piissi]moque / principi domino n[ostro] / F[ocae imperat]ori / perpetuo a d[e]o coronato, [t]riumphatori / semper Augusto / Smaragdus ex praepos[ito] sacri palatii / ac patricius et exarchus Italiae / devotus eius clementiae / pro innumerabilibus pietatis eius beneficiis et pro quiete / procurata Ital[iae] ac conservata libertate / hanc sta(tuam maiesta)tis eius / auri splend(ore fulge)ntem huic / sublimi colu(m)na(e ad) perennem / ipsius gloriam imposuit ac dedicavit / die prima mensis Augusti, indict[ione] und[icesima] / p[ost] c[onsulatum] pietatis eius anno quinto The English translation is as follows: To the best, most clement and pious ruler, our lord Phocas the perpetual emperor, crowned by God, the forever august triumphator, did Smaragdus, former praepositus sacri palatii and patricius and Exarch of Italy, devoted to His Clemency for the innumerable benefactions of His Piousness and for the peace acquired for Italy and its freedom preserved, this statue of His Majesty, blinking from the splendor of gold here on this tallest column for his eternal glory erect and dedicate, on the first day of the month of August, in the eleventh indiction in the fifth year after the consulate of His Piousness. The precise occasion for this signal honour is unknown, though Phocas had formally donated the Pantheon to Pope Boniface IV, who rededicated it to all the martyrs and Mary (Sancta Maria ad Martyres). Atop the column's capital was erected by Smaragdus, the Exarch of Ravenna, a "dazzling" gilded statue of Phocas (which probably only briefly stood there). Rather than a demonstration to mark papal gratitude as it is sometimes casually declared to be, the gilded statue on its column was more likely an emblem of the imperial sovereignty over Rome, which was rapidly fading under pressure from the Lombards, and a personal mark of gratitude from Smaragdus, who had been recalled by Phocas from a long exile and was indebted to the Emperor for retrieving his position of power at Ravenna. In October 610, Phocas was overthrown and killed; his statues everywhere were overthrown. The monument remains today in its original location (in situ). Its isolated, free-standing position among the ruins has always made it a landmark in the Forum, and it often appears in vedute and engravings. The rise in ground level due to silt and debris had completely buried the socle by the time Giuseppe Vasi and Giambattista Piranesi made engravings and etchings of the column in the mid-18th century. The square foundation of brick (illustration, right) was not originally visible, the present level of the Forum not having been excavated down to its earlier Augustan paving until the 19th century.

Lapis Niger
Lapis Niger

The Lapis Niger (Latin, "Black Stone") is an ancient shrine in the Roman Forum. Together with the associated Vulcanal (a sanctuary to Vulcan) it constitutes the only surviving remnants of the old Comitium, an early assembly area that preceded the Forum and is thought to derive from an archaic cult site of the 7th or 8th century BC. The black marble paving (1st century BC) and modern concrete enclosure (early 20th century) of the Lapis Niger overlie an ancient altar and a stone block with one of the earliest known Old Latin inscriptions (c. 570–550 BC). The superstructure monument and shrine may have been built by Julius Caesar during his reorganization of the Forum and Comitium space. Alternatively, this may have been done a generation earlier by Sulla during one of his construction projects around the Curia Hostilia. The site was rediscovered and excavated from 1899 to 1905 by Italian archaeologist Giacomo Boni. Mentioned in many ancient descriptions of the Forum dating back to the Roman Republic and the early days of the Roman Empire, the significance of the Lapis Niger shrine was obscure and mysterious to later Romans, but it was always discussed as a place of great sacredness and significance. It is constructed on top of a sacred spot consisting of much older artifacts found about 5 ft (1.5 m) below the present ground level. The name "black stone" may have originally referred to the black stone block (one of the earliest known Latin inscriptions) or it may refer to the later black marble paving at the surface. Located in the Comitium in front of the Curia Julia, this structure survived for centuries due to a combination of reverential treatment and overbuilding during the era of the early Roman Empire.

San Giuseppe dei Falegnami
San Giuseppe dei Falegnami

San Giuseppe dei Falegnami (Italian, "St. Joseph of the Carpenters"), also called San Giuseppe a Campo Vaccino ("St. Joseph at the Cowfield", an old name for the Roman Forum) is a Roman Catholic church, located in the Forum in Rome, Italy. In 1540, the Congregation of the Carpenters had leased the former church of San Pietro in Carcere which was located over the Mamertine Prison, which by legend had held Saint Peter and Saint Paul. By 1597 work began on the new church, dedicated to the patron saint of Carpenters, St. Joseph. The initial architect was Giacomo della Porta. Work continued after 1602 under the direction of Giovanni Battista Montano, who designed the facade, and at his death (1621) by his pupil Giovanni Battista Soria. The church was completed in 1663 by Antonio Del Grande. The church was restored in 1886 with the construction of a new apse. In the 1930s, the facade was raised above the floor to allow direct access to the prison below. The interior has a nave with two side chapels that were decorated in the nineteenth century. Among the paintings is a Nativity (1651) by Carlo Maratta. Next to the church is an oratory, with a wooden ceiling, and the 16th-century Chapel of the Crucifix, placed between the church floor and the ceiling below the Mamertine Prison. On 18 February 2012, it became a titular church, receiving its first Cardinal-Deacon. On 30 August 2018, there was a partial collapse of the church's roof.