The Temple of Venus and Roma (Templum Veneris et Romae) was the largest temple ever built in Rome — a double-cella structure begun by Hadrian in 121 AD and dedicated in 135 AD, with two identical cellas (temple chambers) placed back-to-back on a single platform, each facing opposite directions: one toward the Colosseum (with the cult of Venus Felix — Venus the Lucky), one toward the Roman Forum (with the cult of Roma Aeterna — Eternal Rome). The architectural controversy: Hadrian designed the temple himself (he fancied himself an architect) and presented the design to Apollodorus of Damascus — the greatest architect of the Roman period, designer of Trajan's Column and Trajan's Forum. Apollodorus's critique of the design was apparently blunt enough that Hadrian, already displeased with him for other reasons, had him exiled and subsequently executed. The temple survives: the cella facing the Colosseum is now the Church of Santa Francesca Romana; the cella facing the Forum is the standing ruins visible from the Via Sacra. Rome guide
Plan my Italy trip →Location: Adjacent to the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Rome | Built: 121–135 AD (Hadrian) | Type: Double-cella Doric temple on raised platform | Dimensions: Platform 145 m × 100 m (the largest temple precinct in Rome) | Survives as: Cella 1 = Church of Santa Francesca Romana; Cella 2 = standing ruins adjacent to the Arch of Titus | Entry: Included in Roman Forum / Palatine Hill combined ticket (€18)
The specific story of the Temple of Venus and Roma's design controversy is documented in the Historia Augusta (the collection of Roman imperial biographies, of variable reliability but in this case corroborated by other sources). Hadrian had always had architectural interests and had been an amateur practitioner during Trajan's reign — Apollodorus of Damascus, Trajan's principal architect (responsible for the Trajan's Column, Trajan's Forum, and the Trajan's Markets), had allegedly dismissed Hadrian's drawings during a meeting with Trajan with the comment "Go and draw your gourds" (a reference to the domed and elongated spaces Hadrian was designing, which supposedly resembled pumpkins). When Hadrian became emperor in 117 AD and presented his design for the temple to Apollodorus, Apollodorus pointed out that the seated cult statues of Venus and Roma were too large for the cellas — if the goddesses were to stand up, they would hit their heads on the ceiling. Hadrian's response was to exile Apollodorus; the architect was subsequently executed (for other alleged offenses, but the timing was not coincidental). The temple was built with Hadrian's design. Apollodorus's critique about the statue proportions was reportedly correct.
The Temple of Venus and Roma was a double-cella structure: two identical temples placed back-to-back on a single raised platform (stylobate) of 145 × 100 metres — the largest temple precinct ever built in Rome. The double-cella innovation: rather than a single temple facing in one direction, Hadrian created a symmetrical structure with identical cellas facing opposite directions — Venus Felix facing the Colosseum (southeast), Roma Aeterna facing the Roman Forum (northwest). Each cella terminated in a curved apse (an unusual feature for a Roman temple, derived from Greek architectural models Hadrian favoured). The outer colonnade: a double row of 150 granite columns encircling the entire platform. The cult statue of Roma was a specific innovation — a goddess personifying the city itself was unusual in Roman religious tradition; the Roma Aeterna cult was a deliberate imperial religious programme identifying Rome's permanence as a divine attribute. Colosseum guide →
The Temple of Venus and Roma (Templum Veneris et Romae) was the largest temple ever built in Rome — a double-cella structure on a platform of 145 × 100 metres, with two identical temples placed back-to-back, built by Hadrian between 121 and 135 AD. One cella faced the Colosseum (Venus Felix cult), the other faced the Roman Forum (Roma Aeterna cult). The architect Apollodorus of Damascus was reportedly exiled and executed after criticising Hadrian's design. It survives today: Cella 1 as the Church of Santa Francesca Romana; Cella 2 as standing ruins near the Arch of Titus, included in the Roman Forum / Palatine Hill combined ticket.
Apollodorus of Damascus (active c.97–130 AD) was the greatest architect of the Roman imperial period — designer of Trajan's Forum, Trajan's Markets, Trajan's Column, and the Danube bridge (the longest bridge in the ancient world). He reportedly angered Hadrian twice: first by dismissing the young Hadrian's architectural drawings during Trajan's reign, and second by criticising Hadrian's design for the Temple of Venus and Roma (pointing out that the cult statues would be disproportionate to the cella height). According to the Historia Augusta, Hadrian had Apollodorus exiled and later executed on charges of unspecified crimes. The dating and exact circumstances are uncertain; modern scholars debate whether the execution is historical or exaggerated. Whatever the exact circumstances, Apollodorus disappears from the historical record after Hadrian's accession.
The ruins of the Temple of Venus and Roma visible from the Via Sacra (the apse end of the Roma Aeterna cella) are within the Roman Forum archaeological area — included in the combined Colosseum + Roman Forum + Palatine Hill ticket (€18 online, €24 walk-up). The Church of Santa Francesca Romana (the surviving Cella facing the Colosseum) is a functioning church — it is free to enter during church hours (typically 9am–12pm and 3pm–7pm), completely separately from the archaeological ticket. The church interior has early Christian art and the specific Santa Francesca Romana oratory; the exterior preserves the apse and lower walls of the Hadrianic temple.
Surviving Roman Forum temples: the Temple of Saturn (7 columns of the 3rd-century BC structure survive, the oldest temple in Rome's political centre, associated with the state treasury); the Temple of Vesta (the circular temple where the Vestal Virgins kept the sacred flame, partially reconstructed, with the circular cella walls surviving); the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina (best-preserved temple in the Forum, 2nd century AD, preserved because its cella became the church of San Lorenzo in Miranda — the porch columns and architrave survive completely); and the Temple of Romulus (the bronze door of the 4th-century AD structure survives intact, incorporated into the church of SS Cosma e Damiano). The Temple of Castor and Pollux has three surviving columns. Most temples survive only as platforms or foundation outlines.
Temple of Venus and Rome + Arch of Titus + Colosseum + Palatine Hill — the complete Roman Forum and Colosseum circuit.
Plan my Rome trip →The Temple of Venus and Roma survives in two distinct forms in Rome: the Roma Aeterna cella (the cella facing the Roman Forum, northwest orientation) is the archaeological ruin visible from the Via Sacra within the Colosseum/Roman Forum/Palatine Hill combined ticket area — the apse and lower walls of the cella are clearly visible from the path; the Venus Felix cella (facing the Colosseum) has been incorporated into the Church of Santa Francesca Romana (Via Sacra, adjacent to the Arch of Titus) — the Hadrianic temple's apse walls and lower structure form the fabric of the current church. Santa Francesca Romana is a functioning Catholic church, free entry during church hours. The combination of the Forum-side ruins and the church-side preservation gives the most complete reading of the temple's double-cella design.
Hadrian (ruled 117–138 AD) was the most architecturally active Roman emperor after Augustus — and unusually, he designed some of his buildings himself (the Temple of Venus and Roma being the most famous controversial example). His Roman architectural legacy: the Pantheon (rebuilt in its current form under Hadrian, though the Agrippa inscription on the facade suggests an earlier dedication — the current concrete dome, the largest in the ancient world for 1,300 years until Florence's Cathedral dome in 1436, is Hadrianic); the Villa Adriana at Tivoli (UNESCO 1999, a vast pleasure complex 30 km from Rome — the Canopus pool, the Piazza d'Oro, the Greek Theatre, the Maritime Theatre are the principal structures); Castel Sant'Angelo (the Mausoleum of Hadrian, converted to a fortress in the medieval period); and the Temple of Venus and Roma. Tivoli's Villa Adriana requires a separate half-day excursion from Rome; the Pantheon and Castel Sant'Angelo are within Rome's historic centre.
The Arch of Titus (Arco di Tito, c.82 AD) is directly adjacent to the Roma Aeterna cella of the Temple of Venus and Roma — the two structures are within metres of each other at the east end of the Roman Forum, at the point where the Via Sacra begins its descent toward the Colosseum. The Arch commemorates Titus's capture and sack of Jerusalem in 70 AD (one of the most consequential events in the history of both Judaism and early Christianity): the inner frieze panels show the triumphal procession carrying the Temple of Jerusalem's sacred objects into Rome, including the Menorah (the seven-branched candelabrum), the silver trumpets, and the Tablets of the Law. The arch is one of the most important historical documents in the Roman Forum — the Menorah relief is the only contemporary visual record of what the Jerusalem Temple's ritual objects looked like. The arch and the Temple of Venus and Roma are both included in the Colosseum + Forum + Palatine Hill combined ticket.
The Temple of Venus and Roma represents a specific Hadrianic political programme: creating a cult of Roma Aeterna (Eternal Rome) — a goddess representing the city itself, associated with the idea that Rome's permanence is a divine attribute. This is unusual in Roman polytheism (Romans did not typically deify abstractions like cities). The political context: Hadrian was a philhellene emperor who travelled throughout the empire and was trying to articulate what Roman identity meant in a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural empire. The Roma Aeterna concept — Rome as an eternal divine principle rather than just a particular city — was influential in the subsequent development of Roman imperial ideology and, through the Roman church, in the concept of Rome as the eternal capital of Christendom that persists in Catholic tradition today.
Santa Francesca Romana (also called Santa Maria Nova) is the Roman Catholic church built into the surviving fabric of the Venus Felix cella of the Temple of Venus and Roma, adjacent to the Arch of Titus and the Colosseum. The church is dedicated to Francesca de' Ponziani (1384–1440), a Roman noblewoman beatified for her charitable work and mystical experiences, canonised in 1608 by Pope Paul V — her tomb is in the crypt below the altar. The church is the starting point of the annual blessing of automobiles on March 9 (the feast of Santa Francesca Romana, the patron of drivers and car owners — a specifically Roman tradition with no equivalent in other Italian cities). The church is free and open during standard church hours; the crypt with the saint's tomb is accessible; the apse of the church incorporates the Hadrianic temple fabric directly.
The Arch of Constantine (315 AD) is the triumphal arch adjacent to the Colosseum, approximately 100 metres from the Temple of Venus and Roma. The Arch is architecturally significant for a specific reason: it is a massive spolia construction, approximately 70% of its decorative elements taken from earlier monuments (Trajan, Hadrian, Aurelian) and reused in 315 AD. The comparison between the sharp Hadrianic roundels (c.120 AD) and the flat Constantine-era friezes on the same arch is a visible demonstration of the transformation in Roman artistic production over 200 years. Included in the Colosseum + Forum combined ticket area.