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Rome reopens Arch of Janus after 28 years

Arco di Giano will open to the public every Saturday.

Rome's Arch of Janus, or Arco di Giano, reopens to the public this month for the first time in 28 years.

The reopening is thanks to collaboration between the city's special superintendence and the Fondazione Alda Fendi - Esperimenti which is based in the building overlooking the ancient monument.

The semi-forgotten arch in the Forum Boarium has been closed to the public since the explosion of a car bomb outside the nearby church of S. Giorgio in Velabro on 27 July 1993, after which the monument was sealed off with a high fence.

Now, from 13 November, the Arch of Janus will reopen to the public every Saturday from 10.00-14.00, with free admission, and from the last Sunday in March from 16.00 to 20.00.

NU-SHU - The Lost Words of Women

To mark the reopening of the majestic monument - the only surviving 'quadrifrons' arch in Rome - the Fondazione Alda Fendi - Esperimenti will stage NU-SHU - The Lost Words of Women on Friday 5 November, at 21.15 and again at 21.45.

Curated by Raffaele Curi, the nine-minute performance focuses on women's self-determination, inspired by the secret Nüshu script that was used exclusively among women in the Hunan province of southern China.

Arco di Giano

With its four facades, the Arch of Janus marked an "important meeting place and crossroads in antiquity, where a busy port on the Tiber River met the slope of the Palatine Hill and led into the heart of the ancient city", writes the World Monuments Fund.

Located between the Circus Maximus and the Temple of Portunus, the arch was built using spolia in the early fourth century.

Its four-fronted, four-arched configuration gave rise to its name, deriving from the ancient Roman god Janus (Ianus Quadrifons) who was sometimes depicted with four faces.

The Arco di Giano has been fenced off since 1993.

In the Middle Ages, the powerful Frangipane family transformed the structure into a fortress, with it surviving intact until 1830.

The attic and top were subsequently removed because it was mistakenly believed that they did not belong to the original structure.

Palazzo Rhinoceros

The Fondazione Alda Fendi - Esperimenti opened the Palazzo Rhinoceros on Via del Velabro 9 in October 2018.

The six-storey structure is an amalgamation of existing buildings, transformed by French architect Jean Nouvel into exclusive apartments along with cutting-edge exhibition and performance spaces.

General Info

Address Via del Velabro, 5, 00186 Roma RM, Italy

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Rome reopens Arch of Janus after 28 years

Via del Velabro, 5, 00186 Roma RM, Italy

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