Suspended in time and, unfortunately, also in a space between the tracks of the Termini Railway Station and the popular residential area of Piazza Vittorio Emanuele, there is one of the most loved and painted monuments from the ancient Rome: the so-called Temple of Minerva Medica. Come with me to understand better why this amazing building fascinated ordinary people and artists. 

The name comes from a statue depicting Minerva with a snake, symbol of medicine,  which was found in this area. Moreover this structure was probably one of the architectonical elements of the imperial complex would by Gallienus, emperor of Rome in the first half of the IV century d.C. The building has a decagonal-plan, covered by a hemispherical dome, like that one of the Pantheon, and the vertical projection of the structure suggests to us, even better, its dating. Although it seems almost abandoned to itself, especially for the proximity to the station platforms, even today we can see how imposing and elegant is the building, which was probably a kind of nymphaeum or classroom used as reading room, games or shows. The so called Temple of Minerva Medica was a place of fun, interspersed within nine semicircular niches which, inside, had to be enriched by statues. I really think that it must be an awesome structure.

Above these niches you can recognize the large windows, suitable for illuminating the room and to lighten the entire structure. So we can imagine how the emperor with his family and friends spend the day between games of light and water, maybe listening to a poet or extolling the verses. For its characteristic form, and also for the mystery that it brings (let us remember that, in spite of everything, the scholars have doubts about the function of this room), the Temple of Minerva Medica had an irresistible charm for all those painters, engravers and designers who, in the course of the centuries, chose Rome. A monument that was even more rich today, if we consider that the hemispherical dome was covered with polychrome mosaics, and that the external masonry, of which today we only see the soul in brick, was covered by beautiful slabs of marble. The eternal beauty of the ruins of Rome is displayed by this building, something that a local tour guide like me must describe in order  to show you why you should visit the Eternal City.