 Click Photo for Larger Version
|
Image ToolbarPlease read before you download
Images and/or text from holylandphotos.org are NOT TO BE USED ON OTHER WEB SITES, NOR COMMERCIALLY, without special permission. To request permission contact us at holylandphotos@gmail.com. |
View looking at the bronze doors of the Curia Julia. These doors were transferred to the Basilica of St. John Lateran by Pope Alexander VII in 1660—where they still stand! During the move, a coin from the reign of Domitian (A.D. 81–96) was found inside of them and thus helps date them to sometime in his reign!
The word "Curia" means the "meeting house" and there were many of them. This structure is the third Curia to be located in this vicinity and it served as the meeting place for the Roman Senate. It was rebuilt by Diocletian around A.D. 300 and it has been refurbished from time to time. The most recent refurbishing was by the Italian Government during the 1930's.
The interior hall measures 82 x 58 ft. and about 300 senators could have fit into it.
