Figure 24: Via del Mare and the church of S. Nicola in Carcere during demolition (AFSRCM).
The medieval buildings in this area did not fare nearly as well as those across the Via del Mare. The church of S. Nicola was quickly isolated (Figure 24) and its bell tower altered so that, together with the so-called Casina dei Pierleoni, they could provide 'due grandi piloni che inquadrano la nuova strada' (two great pillars that frame the new road), the Via del Mare (Muñoz 1932a, 47; for the apse, Muñoz 1932a, plate 78). During the demolition and levelling around S. Nicola, the three Republican temples of the Forum Holitorium came to light. The central one, incorporated in the church and identified as that of Juno Sospita, was an Ionic peripteral temple with six peperino columns on both short sides (Coarelli 1996b). The other peperino columns, visible on the right side of the church, belong to the northernmost temple (attributed to Janus; Coarelli 1996a), while the Doric travertine columns embedded in the other side of the church are believed to correspond to those of the temple of Spes (Coarelli 1999c, 336-7).
Figure 24: Via del Mare and the church of S. Nicola in Carcere during demolition (AFSRCM).
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