Lording it over Piazza del Commune is the imposing form of the Roman Tempio di Minerva. In fact, little remains of the original 1st-century BC structure except the facade and its six fluted columns, and the temple is now home to a 16th-century church, the Chiesa di Santa Maria Sopra Minerva.
The temple appears as a backdrop in Giotto's Homage to the Simple Man fresco in the upper church of the Basilica di San Francesco.
