The Temple of Portunus, dating to the first century B.C., is a rare survivor of Roman Republican architecture and a reminder of the magnificence of the Forum Boarium in Antiquity, once a major commercial area along the banks of the Tiber. The temple was dedicated to Portunus, a youthful god associated with water crossings and seaports. (...)
The Temple of Portunus, dating to the first century B.C., is a rare survivor of Roman Republican architecture and a reminder of the magnificence of the Forum Boarium in Antiquity, once a major commercial area along the banks of the Tiber. The temple was dedicated to Portunus, a youthful god associated with water crossings and seaports. The rectangular building rests on a high podium with a single flight of steps leading to a pronaos, or portico, and a single cella. Although this ground plan is typical of Etruscan temple architecture, the columns are in the Greek Ionic order, a combination characteristic of the architecture of the Roman Republican period. The structure was built out of travertine and tuff, originally plastered to imitate Greek marble. The frieze is decorated with garlands, putti, candelabra, and the popular ancient bucranium, or ox-skull, motif. The building was converted to use as a Christian church in the ninth century, when the interior of the cella was decorated with a fine cycle of frescoes depicting scenes from the life of Mary. This undoubtedly saved the structure from being pulled apart for building materials. In the 1920s, the temple was freed of additions that had been added over time and some conservation measures were taken to protect the structure, which has survived intact for more than two millennia.
