Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
( 06 06 08;
http://en.arapacis.it
;
Lungotevere in Augusta; adult/reduced €8.50/6.50; 9am-7pm Tue-
Sun, last admission 6pm; Flaminio)
The first modern construction in Rome's historic centre
since WWII, Richard Meier's controversial, and widely detested, glass-and-marble pavil-
ion houses the Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of Peace), Augustus' great monument to peace.
One of the most important works of ancient Roman sculpture, the vast marble altar - it
measures 11.6m by 10.6m by 3.6m - was completed in 13 BC and positioned near Piazza
San Lorenzo in Lucina, slightly to the southeast of its current site.
Over the centuries the altar fell victim to Rome's avid art collectors, and panels ended
up in the Medici collection, the Vatican and the Louvre. However, in 1936 Mussolini un-
earthed the remaining parts and reassembled them in the present location.
Of the reliefs, the most important depicts Augustus at the head of a procession, fol-
lowed by priests, the general Marcus Agrippa and the entire imperial family.
Mausoleo di Augusto
MONUMENT
(Piazza Augusto Imperatore; Piazza Augusto Imperatore)
Now an unkempt mound of earth sur-
rounded by unsightly fences, this was once one of ancient Rome's most imposing monu-
ments. The mausoleum was built in 28 BC and is the last resting place of Augustus, who
was buried here in AD 14, and his favourite nephew and heir Marcellus. Mussolini had it
restored in 1936 with an eye to being buried here himself.
Restoration work is apparently ongoing, though it's proceeding at a slow pace.
Trevi Fountain
FOUNTAIN
(Fontana di Trevi; Piazza di Trevi; Barberini)
The Fontana di Trevi, scene of Anita Ekberg's
dip in
La Dolce Vita
, is Rome's largest and most famous fountain. A flamboyant baroque
ensemble of mythical figures, wild horses and cascading rock falls, it takes up the entire
side of the 17th-century Palazzo Poli.
The design, the work of Nicola Salvi in 1732, depicts Neptune in a shell-shaped chariot
being led by Tritons and two seahorses - one wild, one docile - representing the moods of
the sea. In the niche to the left of Neptune, a statue represents Abundance; to the right is
Salubrity. The water comes from the aqua virgo, a 1st-century-BC underground aqueduct,
and the name Trevi refers to the tre vie (three roads) that converge at the fountain.
