Colosseum, opens the House of the Vestals

They were the priestesses par excellence, in charge of the custody of the sacred hearth of the city and of all the rites strictly connected to domestic worship. After the sanctuary of Vesta and after a long process of restoration and study, the complex of the Casa delle Vestali in the Archaeological Park of the Colosseum and in the heart of the Roman Forum also opens its doors to the public. From 6/7 the new visit route will allow you to discover the south-eastern sector of the Atrium Vestae, brought to light by Rodolfo Lanciani during the excavations of 1882-1884 and for some time closed to the public. Here then are the reserved apartments of the priestesses, today space for a widespread museum with some of the sculptures found in the Roman Forum at the end of the nineteenth century. A statue of a Vestal and the one that, according to some scholars,depicts Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome who is credited with establishing the cult of fire and creating the priesthood of sacred virgins. And then again among the restored ambiances, the room of the millstone in lava stone, where - according to tradition and awaiting further checks - the priestesses of Vesta made the mola salsa, the sacred focaccia offered to the divinity on the occasion of the main festivities and, according to some, distributed in small pieces to believers, as an act of purification. According to others, however, it was used to sprinkle animals destined for sacrifice, hence the verb "to immolate". "It is the first step of a complex research and restoration program - explains the director of the Colosseum Archaeological Park, Alfonsina Russo - which, in addition to the opening of theentire House of the Vestals, provides new paths and information spaces throughout the Park, to involve the public in an increasingly aware visit to the rediscovery of extraordinary monuments, a World Heritage Site, in a natural context of rare beauty ".