Today Largo di Torre Argentina in central Rome is better known for stray cats than Roman murders. Photo / Getty Images
Today Largo di Torre Argentina in central Rome is better known for stray cats than Roman murders. Photo / Getty Images
You too can see where Brutus betrayed Caesar, as the place where Rome's most famous emperor met his demise is about to be opened up to tourists.
It was in Largo di Torre Argentina or the 'sacred square' where history's most infamous double cross took place. On 15 March 44BC - the "Ides of March" - Julius Caesar was stabbed in the back 22 times by his nearest and dearest.
Killed on the steps of the Curia outside the Theatre of Pompey, the location that has lived on in the stages of amateur dramatics societies throughout the known world.
It's a event which has been retold by everyone from Shakespeare to the Simpsons, however 2000 years later the ruins were hard to make out.
The Largo di Torre Argentina is the site of history's most famous backstabbing. Photo / Supplied, Sovrintendenza Roma
A mishmash of Medieval brickwork and classical columns much of the original building had fallen into disrepair. Along with the temples of Jupiter and Fortuna, the sacred square had been fenced off from visitors.
A long delayed restoration project is about to change that.
In 2019 the then Mayor of Rome Virginia Raggi announced an ambitious €1 million project to transform the square and make it accessible to tourists.
Much of the money for restoring the square and future proofing the ruins has come from the Italian fashion house Bulgari.
"We are proud to contribute to a project" said CEO Jean-Christophe Babin who said the start of the restoration project was a "very important moment" for the Eternal City.
The Sacred square of Largo di Torre Argentina has been off limits for decades. Photo / Supplied, Bulgari
"The sacred space will finally be brought back to the centre of Rome's cultural life, as it was centuries ago in the Republican era."
Of course with some pandemic delay, work could only commence in the middle of 2021, however the deadline is now close at hand.
Grazie al mecenatismo di @Bulgariofficial tra un anno sarà possibile visitare l'Area Sacra di largo Argentina con camminamenti che permetteranno una visione ravvicinata dei templi. Prevista anche un'area espositiva con reperti e pannelli didattici per rivivere la storia del luogo pic.twitter.com/OHWLg7joxd
Up until last year the only living creatures which have had regular access to the Roman ruins are rescue cats. Today one of the neighbouring buildings on the square is home to a cat sanctuary, which has housed and spayed 4000 alley cats over the past 60 years.
The feline occupants of Gatti Di Roma Sanctuary have become a regular sight, climbing on the ruins. However Bulgari and the City of Rome's restoration has taken a live and let live to the cats.
"The feline shelter will not be touched, it will be protected" - said mayor Virginia Raggi said at the time - "and the cats, famous in Rome and around the world, will stay where they are, silent custodians of these treasures."
There are thought to be around 120,000 stray cats in the city.
