Insula dell'Ara Coeli - Roma, Italy
Posted by: 
denben
N 41° 53.645 E 012° 28.924
33T E 291117 N 4641082
The Insula dell'Ara Coeli is located behind the Vittoriano, at the foot of the steps leading to the Basilica of St. Mary of Ara Coeli in Rome, Italy.
Waymark Code: WM10ZJM
Location: Lazio, Italy
Date Posted: 07/17/2019
Views: 5
From Wikipedia "The Insula dell'Ara Coeli is a rare surviving example of an insula, the kind of apartment blocks where many Roman city dwellers resided. It was built during the 2nd century AD, and rediscovered, under an old church, when Benito Mussolini initiated a plan for massive urban renewal of Rome's historic Capitoline Hill neighbourhood.
Four floors remain. The ground floor consisted of shops that faced the surrounding streets, with the owners using ladders to access living quarters immediately above. A mezzanine lay above the shop level. The two remaining floors seem to have been designed for human residence. The third floor seemed to be large, spacious apartments. The fourth floor had a corridor with a series of three room suites leading off of it. Archeologist Andrew Wallace-Hadrill suggested that with a little imagination, these suites are comparable to apartments in which many 21st century Roman families live. Archeologists believe the structure was originally built with at least five stories. It has been evaluated that the insula romana could host around 380 people.
A church dedicated to Saint Rita of Cascia was built on a medieval church in 1653 (reigning Alexander VII Chigi, architect Carlo Fontana), which was dismantled in the thirties, during the restoration of the Vittoriano, and rebuilt a little further down, at the corner of Via Montanara, in 1937-40. Its demolition brought to light the Roman building below, which was preserved, unlike the many buildings that occupied the area.
Of the medieval oratory remain the bell tower and a frescoed apse, whose main scene represents the burial of the Christ, with the Madonna and Saint John. Everything, including the bell tower, is very small." (
visit link) and (
visit link)