Insula of the Ara Coeli

The Insula of the Ara Coeli is a Roman-era building located on the slopes of the Campidoglio, in Rome, in a corner between the staircase leading to the basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli (hence the name) and the Vittoriano.

The structure dates back to the 2nd century and was built in brick, leaning against a wall in opus reticulatum which was probably built in the 1st century to consolidate the Capitoline hill.

In the Middle Ages, the upper part of the building was occupied by the church of San Biagio de Mercato while in 1653, in place of the latter, the church of Santa Rita da Cascia was built, which was then dismantled in the 1930s to allow the construction of the Victorian and rebuilt a few hundred meters away near the theater of Marcellus.

It was during the dismantling of the church that the remains of the building were found which, contrary to many other archaeological finds in the area, were preserved.

Only a few parts of the Romanesque bell tower and an arcosolium decorated with a fourteenth-century fresco remained of the church of San Biagio.

Map: Insula of the Ara Coeli