| What makes it historical? |
The line between emperor and god was very blurry during the Roman Empire, so when Faustina, wife of Emperor Antoninus Pius, died suddenly in 141 AD, it didn’t take long for the Senate to cast a vote and make her a goddess! What does one do with goddesses? Build them temples! So the grieving emperor commissioned a grand temple to his wife and was later inducted into its cult worship after his own death.
After years of wars, floods, fires, and pillaging, the temple got reimagined in 1602 as a Baroque church, designed by Orazio Torriani. Dedicated to San Lorenzo, patron saint of librarians, this new church certainly survived into the present thanks to its reinvention! |
