Archaeological Area of Corte Sgarzerie

The archaeological site is part of the Capitoline complex, the centre of which is the grand temple dedicated to the trinity of Roman gods: Juno, Jupiter and Minerva, the most important temple of the Roman city. Built over an area of over 60,000 sq. metres the temple was situated in the centre of a raised podium, 2 metres above the ground level, alongside the decumanus massimo (now Corsa Porta Borsari) and delimited on the eastern, western and northern sides by a double galleried portico (the fourth southern side, had the a flight of steps leading down to the forum).

The portico, which was used  as an archive, conserving official documents inscribed on bronze tablets or marble slabs, was sustained by a cryptoporticus - a concealed portico - in our case semi-interred. The cryptoporticus has two naves, each 4,5 m wide, with barrel vaults sustained centrally on arches  supported by  pillars, illuminated by windows  that opened onto the podium.

The archaeological excavations of the temple area began in 1983, along with the renovation of the nearby Palazzo Maffei; they continued until 2011 with the archaeological research within Monte dei Pegni, Palazzo Malaspina, in Corso S. Anastasia 3 and in the crypt of the Church of S. Benedetto.

Alongside the section of the western branch of the cryptoporticus of the Capitoline temple, a tract of a pedestrian road has been unveiled (a small cardo that connects the decumanus massimo with the decumanus beneath Via Emilei, and beyond that, the perimeter wall of a large public building. This structure extended westwards as far as the cardo beneath Via Fama.
About 5 metres of stratification were excavated beneath Corte Sgarzerie. A planimetrical and architectonic reconstruction of the temple area was possible thanks to the numerous architectural elements found in the demolition layers.

The temple remained in use until the fourth century, when it was abandoned, because of the affirmation of Christianity; probably at the end of the century a fire had destroyed either completely or partially the triportico. After another century, Theodoric began a systematic demolition of the temple to recover building material. The cryptoporticus continued to be used, but by the end of the VII-VIII centuries the western branch collapsed: either because of water infiltration or seismic events. In the archaeological area one can see the vaults where they fell.
Up until the ninth-tenth century, the substructure was used as a deposit for rubble and rubbish. The early medieval phases are documented by a modest building associated with infant burials (not visible) and a quadrangular underground structure (cellar?). In XII-XIII centuries, the vaulted cellar (for storing ice?) was built against Monte dei Pegni re-using the eastern wall and part of the vault of the cryptoporticus, as were the huge foundations of a tower house, visible at the entrance to the archaeological site.

Part of these structures were demolished with the construction of the Loggia del Mangano which was re-used as a residential building up until 1970, before being restored to its present state.