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One of the most important archaeological areas of Rome, discovered almost 100 years ago but never made accessible to the public, finally opens its doors: it is the Sacred Area of Largo Argentina, which houses some of the most significant temples and places of ancient history of the city, such as the Curia di Pompeo where Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC. Discovered during the urban redevelopment of the district between 1926 and 1929, until now it was visible only from the outside and from a height of about five metres, the level of the contemporary city. But two years of work, financed with one million euros by Bulgari, led to its long-awaited opening. Now those monuments can be seen up close, and with walkways that make them accessible even to people with disabilities.
The project originated almost 10 years ago: it was 2014, in fact, when Jean-Christophe Babin, who had recently arrived in Rome as the new CEO of the historic jewelery brand, announced that Bulgari would finance the restoration of the Trinità dei Monti staircase, a short distance from the historic boutique in via Condotti 10, with 1.5 million euros. Five years later, the maison made an agreement with Roma Capitale to also finance the restoration of the Sacred Area of Largo Argentina with 500,000 euros, to which must be added the approximately 485,000 residuals from the previous project. A total, therefore, of one million euros, with which the construction site will start in 2021, after the most serious phase of the Covid19 pandemic.
The new site also includes a museum area with finds discovered during the excavations, among which a magnificent head of a female divinity in Parian marble stands out, perhaps the goddess Feronia, to whom one of the four temples visible today was dedicated. The setting that enhances the two successive floors of the area, both perfectly visible, is particularly exciting: the lower one, in tuff, dates back to the Republican era, and is the one that Caesar trampled on on the Ides of March. Above, the travertine marble slabs with which the emperor Domitian wanted to cover the area after the terrible fire that destroyed most of his monuments in 80, as well as the very ancient temple of Jupiter Capitolinus.
«Once more we demonstrate the importance that for Bulgari its city, Rome – said the CEO Babin inaugurating the site together with the mayor of Rome Roberto Gualtieri and the Superintendent Claudio Parisi Presicce -, after the projects dedicated to the mosaics of the baths of Caracalla, the Scalinata di Trinità dei Monti and, more recently, the lighting of the Ara Pacis». The latter monument is also located near the new hotel that the brand has just inaugurated in the city, and where the link with the city’s history and art is particularly visible, both through the marbles of the Torlonia Collection (of which Bulgari has the restoration was financed in 2017) which will alternate on the ground floor, and with the Library with volumes dedicated to the city and open to the public.
«Rome has always inspired our creativity, and 98% of what we produce is destined for export – added Babin -: for us, therefore, this is a way to give back to the city part of what it has been giving us for almost 140 years ( Bulgari was founded in 1884, ed). And we are already evaluating new interventions to be financed to support its immense heritage”. Meanwhile, in the historic boutique in via Condotti, until September it will be possible to visit the new layout of the DomusAurea area, dedicated to the treasures of the maison’s archives, with sautoirs, necklaces, brooches and bracelets inspired by the monuments and symbolic places of the Eternal City.