DESCRIPTION
The A Temple, the holy building of larger dimensions placed immediately to the north of the Forum, has been identified (along with two other, adjacent and smaller) thanks to the interpretation of aerial photography and magnetometric surveys and is currently being excavated. During the 2014 and 2015 campaigns, it was revealed the entire perimeter of the building, which measures m. 9.45 × 17.15. It is a mighty building, facing south-east, divided into two subsequent spaces (you can recognize a pronaos and a wide and deep cell), but just mainly preserved at the foundation level. The porch is 6 m wide and 2.85 m deep; the cell is 6 m wide and 8.90 m deep. The building technique is the opus vittatum, found in almost all the walls in Forum Sempronii excavations and dating to the high-imperial age (I-II century a.D.). Because of the precarious state of conservation of the structures, it is not possible, at present, to provide more accurate data on the sacred structure plan. Inside the temple some walls cut by the holy building foundations, which continue to the west, were found: so, it was possible to further characterize the incomplete floor plan of a previous building, with slightly different orientation than the sacred building, being rotated a few degrees to the south. The particular plan (curvy and meandering walls) might suggest a thermal building or a structure related to the use of water, but there are no traces of ducts or pipes that would support this hypothesis. However the discovery, within the circular structure, of a small limestone foot with an oriental style sandal, makes plausible, with due caution, the hypothesis of a sacred destination for this monument too.
Oscar Me
