Foro Boario - The Mistaken Temples - 2 (The Rectangular Temple)

Just a few meters from the Round Temple in the direction of the Campidoglio hill, there is another temple in very good conditions, with a more "classical" rectangular shape, more similar to the standard Greek temple. Just like its Round neighbour, the Rectangular Temple has been mistaken over the centuries for a different temple, namely the Temple of Viril Fortune. The reason that impeded further investigation was that the Temple has been used as a church (Santa Maria Egiziaca, where the Armenian community used to gather) but then it was closed in the 30s, and transformed again into an archaelogical site. 

Further excavations and the removal of many frescoes and other Christian decorations showed that this temple was dedicated to Portunus, a minor God who protected the workers of the local harbour on the river, which was a bustling spot where all the merchandise coming from all over the Mediterranean came ashore to be sold in the markets of the City. Evidence of this incredibly ancient trade are fragments of jars from Asia and Africa, the oldest of which date back to the 10th or 11th century B.C. (!) over 3 centuries before the foundation of Rome.