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Via delle Colonne and the Church of the Most Holy Saviour: Where the Middle Ages Mix with Ancient Rome
The white paving of Via delle Colonne in Cori is all that remains of the ancient Roman forum. Along the street, half-columns protrude from the walls of medieval houses — fragments of a monumental past that the Middle Ages absorbed without erasing completely. Cori is in the Lepini Mountains, in the province of Latina, one of the oldest towns in Lazio.
Two Columns That Defy the Millennia
At the end of the street, on a panoramic terrace, stands the Temple of the Dioscuri: two Corinthian columns and a section of entablature, built between the 4th and 2nd centuries BC. It was restored in the 1st century BC using the sanctuary's own treasury — which functioned as a public fund, much like the Parthenon. The dedicatory inscription to Castor and Pollux is still legible on the architrave. The porphyry Minerva that today stands in Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome, transformed into the figure of Dea Roma in 1593, came from here.
The Medieval Church on the Forum
Next to the temple is the Church of the SS. Salvatore (Most Holy Saviour), documented since the 13th century. Built on the ruins of pagan structures, it houses early 17th-century frescoes: the Circumcision of Jesus by Giovanni Battista Ricci da Novara (1597) on the high altar, and the Adoration of the Shepherds and Adoration of the Magi by Florentine artist Anastasio Fontebuoni (1610) on the side walls. The church is currently closed to the public.
