Temple of Vesta
Rome kept a fire burning here day and night, until Theodosius I let it be extinguished in 394 AD during his suppression of pagan worship.
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A rare round Roman temple that held no god-statue, only an eternal hearth tended by six Vestal Virgins under the pontifex maximus. Just two and a half of its bays were re-erected from the ruins in 1930-31.
What to look for
- The curve: what survives is a fragment of the circular colonnade. Alfonso Bartoli re-erected just two and a half of its bays in 1930-31; the temple once had twenty Corinthian columns.
- No cult statue inside, only a hearth for the flame, with a vent at the roof's apex to let the smoke escape.
- The podium runs about 15 meters across; the cella once held the Palladium, a Minerva statue said to be carried from Troy by Aeneas, plus senators' wills.
In the Roman Forum, next to the Regia and the House of the Vestal Virgins.
Temple of Vesta is one of 40 sights worth the detour in Rome, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Rome pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Rome
- Vatican CityThe world's smallest sovereign state fits in 44 hectares — you cross its border by stepping over a white line.
- ColosseumAround 50,000 Romans packed this stone oval to watch spectacles staged over a two-level warren of cages beneath the arena floor.
- St. Peter's BasilicaThe world's largest church, built directly over the grave believed to hold St. Peter's bones.
- Sistine ChapelMichelangelo painted the ceiling standing up, not on his back — and cardinals still elect the pope in this room.
- PantheonA 1,900-year-old concrete dome with a hole punched in the top — when it rains in Rome, it rains inside too.
- Stadio OlimpicoOne 70,634-seat bowl, two cross-town tenants: AS Roma and SS Lazio both play here.