San Nicola in Carcere

I spent my Sunday afternoon (Feb 9, 2014) walking around Rome and visiting churches and piazzas.

My first Basilica was St. Bartholomew, the second one was the Basilica of San Nicola in Carcere. This church is way more than just another church and that's because while the church's subterranean ruins are neat—and more on them in a moment—one of the most interesting things about San Nicola is that you don't have to go underground, or even inside, to see the church's ancient origins.

Just look closely at the exterior on one of these pictures and see those columns are from the Temple of Spes, or Hope, built all the way back in 250 B.C. The two middle columns, which blend into the current facade of the basilica are from the middle temple, built in honor of Juno in the 2nd century B.C. and rebuilt in 90 B.C. And the columns all the way on the right are the remnants of the Temple of Janus, the god of gates and beginnings, dating to a restoration by Tiberius in 17 A.D. Inside the temple I found an altar dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe.

San Nicolas en carcere es una iglesia antigua construida sobre un viejo templo Romano. Muy bonita ahi se encuentra la capilla a la Virgen de Guadalupe.

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