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The Roman Forum, the heart of Rome. The citizens of ancient Rome spent a good part of their days there. The great place was surrounded with temples and legal buildings and filled with statues, bridges, arcs, and columns. So the 'Forum Romanum' was a remarkable marketplace center point for all business and shopping made by Rome's ancient citizens.
Roman orators also used the Forum for public speaking. This created a shopping and trading ambiance that would get people stopping and listening. Many religious and festivals were also held at the Forum. It is also known to have been the cradle of the Latin population 26 centuries ago.
The creation of the forum as a market and public meeting space was a roman integration of the Greek's agora. Forums also made their appearances in many other towns and Italy provinces.
The 'Forum Romanum' extended alongside the Palatine Hill in front of the Capitoline Hill. It was of a rectangular shape and had around it: shops, a public treasury, a basilica, the Roman Curia, and a prison. The forum extended almost to the coliseum (colosseum) when the Constantine Basilica was built. A small bridge crossed the small stream that was flowing towards the Tiber.
The temple of Saturn, which housed the treasury and the Temple of Concord, was located in Capitoline Hill's direction. The Arch of Augustus, west of the forum, was one of the entrance. South of the Forum was the temple of Vesta near the house of the vestal virgins. The Arch of Septimius Severu closed the Forum northwest.
In the imperial ages, the forum became obsolete compared to emerging and more modern forums built elsewhere in the city. In the 4th century, fires, earthquakes, and barbarian invasions eventually destroyed most of the forum. Materials and stones from the Forum Romanum were used to build new monuments during the Middle Ages throughout Rome.
The Roman Forum is generally open to visitors from 8:30 am to one hour before dawn. Tickets normally cost 12€ (about 14-15 USD) and cover the entrance fee allows entrance to the Palatine Hill and Colosseum archeological sites as well. A map of the Forum's grounds is given to visitors at the entrance.
You can arrive by Rome's metro at the Colosseo station on the blue line.