Area Archeologica del Teatro di Marcello

Rome, Italy

The Area Archeologica del Teatro di Marcello is an enchanting historical site which illustrates the last two thousand years of Roman history. The theatre was begun by Julius Caesar, but finished by Augustus, the first of Romes emperors, who claimed that he had found Rome in clay and left it in marble. He dedicated the theatre to his favourite nephew Marcellus. Instead of inheriting Augustus empire, Marcellus died young and was the first to be laid in Augustus' mausoleum. Later the theatre was comandeered by the Fabi family, who built a fortress on top of the arches. After that the building passed through the hands of the Savelli and Orsini families. In the sixteenth century the former theatre was converted into a palazzo.

Today when you look at the Teatro di Marcello, you can see the high arches of the ancient theatre, medieval fortified walls and the more elegant additions of Baldassare Peruzzi, who undertook the conversion to a Renaissance palazzo.