Tempio di Vesta

Tempio di Vesta rises on the acropolis of ancient Tivoli, within Villa Gregoriana park in Italy. Its circular form overlooks the Aniene falls and a narrow gully. Built in the early first century BC, the Roman tholos has a single ring of Corinthian columns around its cella. A high brick podium, clad in travertine, supports the structure, whose door and two windows face the surrounding landscape.

Its capitals combine two rows of acanthus leaves with oversized fleurons shaped like hibiscus flowers. Flat-topped flutes, fruit swags between bucrania, and rosettes enrich the columns and frieze. The missing modillions on the cornice create a distinctive detail, while the so-called Tivoli order influenced later buildings as far away as England and California. Christian use as Santa Maria della Rotonda helped preserve the temple before its ancient appearance returned in the sixteenth century.