Casa dei Cavalieri di Rodi

Casa dei Cavalieri di Rodi
	La casa dei Cavalieri di Rodi da via dei Fori imperiali
	Click on the map for a fullscreen view
Location	Rome
Coordinates	41°53′41″N 12°29′11″E / 41.8948°N 12.4864°E

The Casa dei Cavalieri di Rodi (House of the Knights of Rhodes) is a building in Rome. Sited in the ruins of the Forum of Augustus, it was built by the Knights Hospitaller at the end of the 13th century and since 1946 has been used by their successors, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

History

Basilian monastery

The Temple of Mars with the campanile of the Basilians and the Arco dei Pantani, by Piranesi, 1756 - note the name *Foro di Nerva*

The Forum of Augustus and Temple of Mars Ultor were probably destroyed by earthquakes in the 5th century. In the medieval era it was known by several names - the forum itself as Foro transitorio, Foro di Nerva and Foro di San Basilio, and the temple as Palatium Traiani Imperatoris (palace of emperor Trajan) or the temple of Nerva ('tempio di Nerva'). 'Foro di San Basilio' refers to the first medieval use of the Forum, the small 10th century church of San Basilio al Foro di Augusto and its adjoining Basilian monastery, built on the podium of the temple and its exedra. The walls of that complex were found during the 1930s demolition phase and dated to the 9th-10th centuries.

The Basilian church was a small oratory built into the temple's apse. It was originally intended to be used as a monastery.

Restoration

The convent was demolished in 1930 and the building was transferred to the Comune di Roma, which restored it between 1940 and 1950 before assigning it to the Order of Malta straight after World War Two.

References

^ The numbers refer to:
121 and 122. Church of Santa Maria in Campo Carleo (demolished in 1931) and the street of the same name
123. Church of the Annunziata, and Dominican monastery (demolished in 1931).
124. Arco dei Pantani.