Il Piccolo Tempio di Monte Sant’Angelo a Terracina

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Abstract

The excavations at the so-called Piccolo Tempio at Monte Sant’Angelo in Terracina were conducted by Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich in the years 2019–2021. The activities focused on the temple building and its terrace in the western slope of the mountain. The aim of the project is to determine the construction date and to reconstruct the Hellenistic sanctuary for the first time in research history. Thanks to the findings in the construction layers related to the erection of the substructure of the temple platform, the decorations and building technique can be dated to the first two decades 2nd century B.C.E. The complex included a U-shaped cryptoporticus, rich decorated pavements and wall decorations in the First Pompeian Style. During the 2020 excavations the foundation walls of a rectangular temple building were found on the upper part of the platform. It can be reconstructed as a temple building with a cella and two lateral alae. Contrary to the traditional interpretation of the building, both the terrace and the temple face the ancient city of Terracina and the via Appia, and not the sea.