Temple of Vesta
It is an ancient edifice in Rome. It is near the house of the Vestal Virgins. Its most recognizable feature is its circular footprint. It is located near the Regia. The temple was made with Greek architecture with Corinthian columns, marble, and a central cella. The structure that remains tells there was twenty columns built on a podium fifteen meters in diameter.
All temples of Vesta were round, and the entrances faced east that symbolized the connection between Vesta’s fire and the sun as sources of life. The temple represents a site of ancient cult activity as far back as the 7th century. Numa Pompilius was said to have built the building. It is one of the oldest buildings in the Roman Forum although it has been remodeled recently. The temple was the storehouse of legal wills and documents from Roman senators and cult objects such as the Palladian.
The Palladian was a statue of Athena who was said to have come from Aeneas of Troy. It was thought to be one of the pledges of imperium of ancient Rome. The temple burned twice according to history. In 64 BC the great fire of Rome burned most of Rome, which included the temple of Vesta. After a fire in 191, the temple was restored by Julie Domna. The temple has been looted and stripped of its marble during the 16th century.
The structure standing today was reconstructed in the 1930’s during the dictatorship of Benito Mussolini. The temple is also known for containing the sacred fire. It was built In an imitation of a primitive round hut. The building had handmaidens had the job of never letting the sacred fire out. It was important to build a vent in the roof for the smoke to roll out because it started on fire more than once.
The whole thing is based off of the hearth goddess Vesta. The cella of the building was made of concrete. The only man allowed to enter the temple of Vesta was the Pontifex Maximus. Women are allowed in the building when the Vestalia festival in June. The sacred flame represented the everlasting natural state of the people.
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