Tourist Sights The Arch of Titus in Rome, Italy

About the unique tourist sight the Arch of Titus in Rome, Italy, location, history and description of the monument.

TOUR OF UNIQUE SITES AND SIGHTS IN THE WORLD

ROME

Sight: The Arch of Titus.

This triumphal arch was built by Roman Emperor Domitian (ruled 81-96 A.D.) to honor the victory of his Emperor Titus (79-81 A.D.), over the Jews. Roman legions under Titus destroyed Jerusalem and obliterated the Jewish nation. Through the centuries the Titus Arch gradually crumpled until only a fragment of it, the middle of the arch, survived into the 19th century. In 1822, the rest of the arch was restored. The unique fact about it is that no Jew, past or present, has ever knowingly walked under the arch--for once a Jew walks under it, according to a ban placed on the monument by ancient Jewish authorities, the person is no longer a Jew.

Location: At the ancient entrance to the Palatine, across from the Colosseum. Years after the Arch of Titus was built, Italian Jews, in order to get from the Colosseum to the city without going under the arch, created a special pathway that bypassed the hated monument to their oppressor.