Between the Vittoriano and the stairway of the Ara Coeli, you can see the remains of an insula, that is: a rented Roman house, the most common form of housing in Imperial Rome.
The building was saved from demolishing which often occurred in the thirties along the slopes of the Capitolino hill and when the seventh century church of S. Rita (later reconstructed between the Teatro di Marcello and Piazza Campitelli) that had enclosed the Roman house was moved.
The Romanic bell tower emerged again as well as an arcosolium decorated with a third century fresco, still visible today, belonging to the church of S. Biagio de mercato which during the 17th Century was transformed in the church of S. Rita.
The building consisted of at least five floors, still existing today. The tabernae can still be seen on the ground floor. The floor above was used by the person managing the taberna and there were other floors above reached by an internal staircase of the Medieval era.
The building, constructed in bricks in the II Century a.d. is located near a network wall probably used for works for developing the Capitolina hill in the I Century a.d.
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 | | | I Municipio
Rione VII - Regola
Regio IX - Circus Flaminius
c/o la scalinata dell'Ara Coeli |  |
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