The Roman Forum, also known as the Magnum Forum, or simply the "Roman Market Square", is the oldest city square in Rome, surrounded by six of the seven hills on which the city was erected: Capitoline, Palatine, Celius, Eskwilin, Viminal and Quirinal. There are ruins and remains of dozens of ancient monuments - temples, triumphal arches, as well as the famous black stone (the oldest monument in the Roman Forum), the navel of the world (the monument designating the center of Rome) and Via Sacra - the main street in antiquity.
The Roman Forum was the main political, religious and social center of ancient Rome, the place where the most important ceremonies took place. This lively square in the Middle Ages was gradually destroyed. It served as a quarry and grazing area, and later also a cattle market. The first excavations took place here only in 1803.
