Tempio tuscanico c.d. Capitolium

The Tuscan Temple, commonly called the Capitolium, stands on a high podium along Terracina's ancient Appia. Dating to the mid-first century BC, it has a tetrastyle porch and three adjoining cells; the temple's identification as a Capitolium remains a hypothesis.

Why it matters

The temple is among Terracina's best-preserved examples of Roman temple architecture. Its podium contains four vaulted chambers, and its position between the hillside and the ancient road shaped the building's proportions. The three-cell plan led archaeologist Giuseppe Lugli to propose in 1926 that it was a Capitolium, but no dedicatory inscription confirms the cult.

What to notice

The rectangular temple has a four-column frontal porch; one of its original travertine columns survives, built from five drums on an Attic base. Behind the porch, three adjoining cells are built in alternating patterns of limestone and tuff. The podium contains four vaulted chambers. A central staircase once connected the temple with the street level of the Appia.

Context and history

Renaissance drawings by Baldassarre Peruzzi helped preserve knowledge of the temple. Bombing on 4 September 1943 damaged the surrounding area, and the temple was restored in 1946–48. After more recent conservation, it reopened to the public in 2023. The name “Capitolium” remains conventional rather than a confirmed dedication.