Round Temple (Temple of Hercules Victor) in the Forum Boarium: tickets, opening hours and tips

This temple, wrongly called of Vesta, is circular and has twenty Corinthian columns, it rests on a low platform of marble stairs. Probably, the Architect was Hermodoros di Salamina while the cult statue seems to be the work of Skopas Minore, a Greek sculptor who lived during the II century BC. 

Also the capitals seem to be a Greek work, made on Hellenistic models. The building was dedicated to Hercules vincitore, the patron of the Italic merchants who worked in the near by Foro Boario. It was built by the end of the II century BC. It is the most ancient marble temple in Rome. The temple was restored under Tiberio, probably after the flood occurred in 15 AD.

In 1140 it was transformed in the church of Santo Stefano delle Carrozze and since the middle of the XVI century, before its abandonment, it was dedicated to S. Maria del Sole due to a miraculous image of Virgin Mary found in the Tiber. Inside it, there still is a fresco of the XV century representing the Virgin Mary with the Child and the Saints.