Forum Boarium

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  • Address
    Via dei Cerchi, Campitelli
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  • Transport
    bus: Via dei Cerchi

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Lonely Planet review

Piazza della Bocca della Verità stands on what was once ancient Rome's cattle market (Forum Boarium). The Forum later became an important commercial centre and had its own port on the River Tiber. Opposite Chiesa Santa Maria in Cosmedin are two tiny Roman temples dating to the 2nd century BC: the round Tempio di Ercole Vincitore and the Tempio di Portunus, dedicated to the god of rivers and ports, Portunus.

To the north are the ruins of the Casa dei Crescenzi, a former tower fortress transformed into a mansion in the 11th century by the powerful Crescenzi family.

Just off the piazza, the Arco di Giano (Arch of Janus) is a four-sided Roman arch that once covered a crossroads. Beyond it, on the northern side of the street, is the medieval Chiesa di San Giorgio in Velabro (06 692 04 534; Via del Velabro 19; ; - & - ), a beautiful, atmospheric church whose original 7th-century portico was completely destroyed by a Mafia bomb attack in 1993. The version you see today is a faithful copy.