SOVRINTENDENZA CAPITOLINA AI BENI CULTURALI
Two thousand years ago, it stood as a towering monument to the everlasting glory of Rome’s first emperor, Caesar Augustus (63 BCE–14 CE). Situated near the banks of the Tiber River, in clear view of the imperial city’s most important institutions, Augustus’s Mausoleum was a massive circular tomb built to house the cremated remains of the emperor and his family.
The tomb’s inner burial chamber was surrounded by a series of concentric walls that supported the monument’s nearly 150-foot-high conical ceiling. Originally faced with travertine, the mausoleum was topped by a triumphant bronze statue of Augustus, and its arched entryway was flanked by bronze plaques inscribed with the emperor’s achievements.
Surprisingly, however, this fabled monument, which helped inspire the majestic tombs of later Roman emperors and even the grand Anastasis rotunda in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (see “The Life of Jesus Written in Stone“), was left to languish through much of the 20th century. Although the mausoleum had a long history of reuse, including later lives as a medieval fortress, a wealthy family garden, and an entertainment and theater venue, it was largely neglected following the 1930s, when Italian dictator Benito Mussolini used the monument to promote his fascist, nationalistic ideologies. After that, the site was closed for nearly eight decades, becoming heavily overgrown and protected only by dilapidated fencing.
In the early 2000s, as the monument was increasingly threatened by water damage and urban development, Italian authorities launched a multiyear, $12-million project to restore the monument and make it once again accessible to the public. Conservation efforts focused on clearing overgrowth, adding drainage, and stabilizing many of the structure’s deteriorating walls. In addition, an interpretive pathway was added to the site’s interior halls, allowing visitors to explore the monument and its long and varied history. With restoration efforts concluded in 2019, the mausoleum briefly reopened in 2021 to much fanfare, though its full reopening will be in 2026 as improvements are made to the entrance and adjoining piazza.
Two thousand years ago, it stood as a towering monument to the everlasting glory of Rome’s first emperor, Caesar Augustus (63 BCE–14 CE). Situated near the banks of the Tiber River, in clear view of the imperial city’s most important institutions, Augustus’s Mausoleum was a massive circular tomb built to house the cremated remains of the emperor and his family. The tomb’s inner burial chamber was surrounded by a series of concentric walls that supported the monument’s nearly 150-foot-high conical ceiling. Originally faced with travertine, the mausoleum was topped by a triumphant bronze statue of Augustus, and its arched entryway […]
