Fodor's Expert Review Tempio di Vesta

Although only a fragment of the original building remains, this temple nevertheless conveys the sophisticated architectural elegance that was achieved in the later Roman Empire. Set off by florid Corinthian columns, the circular tholos was rebuilt by Emperor Septimius Severus when he restored the temple (around AD 205), which is dedicated to Vesta, the goddess of the hearth. It was here that the six, highly privileged vestal virgins—chosen when they were between six and 10 years old to serve for 30 years—kept Rome's sacred flame burning, a tradition that dated from the very earliest days of the city, when guarding the community's precious fire was essential to its well-being.

Next to the temple, the Casa delle Vestali gives you a glimpse of the splendor in which these women lived. Marble statues of the vestals and fragments of mosaic pavement line the garden courtyard, which once would have been surrounded by lofty colonnades and at least 50 rooms. Their standing in Rome was considerable: among women, they were second in rank only to the Empress. Their intercession could save a condemned man, and they did, in fact, rescue Julius Caesar from the lethal vengeance of his enemy Sulla.

The virgins were handsomely maintained by the state, but if they allowed the sacred fire to go out, they were scourged by the high priest, and if they broke their vows of celibacy, they were buried alive (a punishment doled out only a handful of times throughout the cult's 1,000-year history). The vestal virgins were one of the last of ancient Rome's institutions to die out, enduring until the end of the 4th century AD—even after Rome's emperors had become Christian.