Temple of Antoninus and Faustina

(Local Name: Tempio di Antonino e Faustina) From the Via Sacra (Sacred Way) a broad flight of steps leads up to the temple of Antoninus Pius and his wife Faustina. The temple was built by resolution of the Senate in A.D. 141 in honor of the deified Empress, and was also dedicated to Antoninus after his death. This is recorded in the inscription "Divo Antonino et Divae Faustinae ex S(enatus) C(onsulto)". Of the temple there survive six columns with Corinthian capitals along the front and a number of columns along the side. In the 12th century the temple was converted into the church of San Lorenzo in Miranda. On the occasion of the Emperor Charles V's visit to Rome in 1536 the columns were disengaged from the medieval masonry.