Rome - Piazza Bocca della Verità

The Piazza Bocca della Verità occupies the site of the ancient Forum Boarium or cattle market, situated conveniently close to the Tiber, which provided a ready means for the disposal of refuse. From this square there is a view, scarcely to be equaled anywhere else in Rome, which takes in both ancient and Christian buildings: the church of Santa Maria in Cosmedin, a Romanesque building with a modestly proportioned porch and a graceful campanile; the Arch of Janus and beyond it the handsome church of San Giorgio in Velabro and the Arco degli Argentari, the arch of the merchants and bankers; the church of San Giovanni Decollato ; the Casa dei Crescenzi, the residence of the most powerful family in Rome during the early medieval period; and two ancient temples, the Tempio della Fortuna Virile and the Tempio di Vesta, with the Baroque Fountain of the Two Tritons.