The Tempio di Veiove was only brought to light in 1939, during excavations under the Piazza del Campidoglio to build the Galleria del Congiunzione. Palazzo Senatoria was built over it like the nearby Tabularium. In this case it almost completely covered the Roman building, thus preserving it from total destruction.
The divinity, after which the temple was dedicated, was identified after uncovering the area where the cella of the marble cult statue had been. This was mentioned in antique documents: the God Veiove, a youthful version of Jove of antique Italic origin. Latin authors call its site ‘interduos lucos’ meaning between two sacred woods on the two Campidoglio hills. In the same area, there is the Asylum, where according to tradition, Romolo gave shelter to refugees fleeing from other places in Lazio to populate the new city he had founded.
In 192 BC, the consul Lucio Furio Purpurione occupied it after the battle of Cremona during the war against the Galli Boi. The temple was then dedicated by Quinto Marcio Ralla in 192 BC. The interesting feature of this construction is that the plan of the cella was lengthened transversely. This was common to only a few other Roman temples, probably because the area was so limited, its width being almost double its length (m15 X 8.90).
The centre of the high podium of the temple was made of concrete, covered with travertine. The façade in front of the street, rising towards the Clivio Capitolino, shows a Pronaos with four columns in the centre and a flight of steps in front. Three building periods can be seen. The last one dates back to the first quarter of the 1st Century BC and is connected to the Tabularium building. The Temple was then restored by the Emperor Domiziano during the 1st Century AD, who added brick pillars and covered the floor and the walls of the cella with coloured marble. The paving of the area around the building was covered with large Travertine slabs.
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 | | | I Municipio
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