The Arch Of Janus In Rome, Italy Editorial Photo

The arch of Janus between the Capitoline and the Palatine Hill in Rome, Italy. The Arch of Janus is the only quadrifrons triumphal arch preserved in Rome. It was set up at a crossroads at the northeastern limit of the Forum Boarium. It was built in the early 4th century CE, using spolia, i.e. material from earlier buildings, including bricks, together with pottery shards, and was covered with white marble, also from earlier buildings. The meaning of the monument is dubious: it is thought to have been a boundary marker rather than a triumphal arch. It is 16 meters high and 12 meters wide. The name origins from the structure`s appearance. In the Middle Ages, the Frangipane family transformed the building into a fortress, and so it survived intact until 1830. The arch has not been accessible to the public since the explosion of a bomb in front of San Giorgio in Velabro, in the night of 27 July 1993.