Ancient Rome - Rome - page 165

Forum Boarium & Around

BOCCA DELLA VERITÀ
MAP GOOGLE MAP

MONUMENT

( Piazza Bocca della Verità 18; donation €0.50; 9.30am-4.50pm winter, to 5.50pm summer; Piazza Bocca della
Verità) A round piece of marble that was once part of an ancient fountain, or possibly an an-
cient manhole cover, the Bocca della Verità (Mouth of Truth) is one of Rome's most popu-
lar curiosities. Legend has it that if you put your hand in the carved mouth and tell a lie, it
will bite your hand off.
The mouth lives in the portico of the Chiesa di Santa Maria in Cosmedin , one of Rome's most
beautiful medieval churches. Originally built in the 8th century, the church was given a
major revamp in the 12th century, when the seven-storey bell tower and portico were ad-
ded and the floor was decorated with Cosmati inlaid marble.

FORUM BOARIUM
MAP GOOGLE MAP
( Piazza Bocca della Verità; Piazza Bocca della Verità) Car-choked Piazza Bocca della Verità stands
on what was once ancient Rome's cattle market, the Forum Boarium. Opposite the Chiesa
di Santa Maria in Cosmedin are two tiny Roman temples dating to the 2nd century BC:
the round Tempio di Ercole Vincitore MAP GOOGLE MAP and the Tempio di Portunus MAP
GOOGLE MAP , dedicated to the god of rivers and ports, Portunus.
Just off the piazza, the Arco di Giano MAP GOOGLE MAP (Arch of Janus) is a four-sided
Roman arch that once covered a crossroads. Beyond it is the medieval Chiesa di San Giorgio in
Velabro MAP GOOGLE MAP (Via del Velabro 19; 10am-12.30pm & 4-6.30pm Tue, Fri & Sat; Piazza
Bocca della Verità) , a beautiful church whose original 7th-century portico was destroyed by a
Mafia bomb attack in 1993.

ROMAN SITE