Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II
Ruins of an immense FOUNTAIN on three floors dating from the time of Alexander Severus (222/235), maybe the year 226 AD
The dating is determined by a coin of 226 that represents it
It was originally faced with marble with function of reservoir for water supply fed by the Aqua Iulia aqueduct, perhaps in connection also with the Aqua Alexandriana aqueduct
The fountain was known as Nymphaeum Alexandri
These ruins took their current name from two reliefs from the period of Domitian (81/96) mistakenly called “Trophies of Marius”, moved in 1590 from here to the balustrade of the Capitoline Hill. They didn’t however belong to the original monument
On the left MAGIC DOOR or ALCHEMICAL DOOR 1680
It is a recomposition of the door with hermetic symbols from the villa of the Marquis Massimiliano Di Palombara destroyed in 1873 to build the new quarters of Rome as capital of the Kingdom of Italy
The hermetic symbols etched into the marble would be the magic formula for making gold that the Marquis had found in an ancient book. Having failed to decipher it, he has made it available to all, and maybe, one day, some passer-by on Piazza Vittorio will discover how to make gold
On either side of the door “Two statues of the god Bes” found on Quirinal Hill in 1888
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