Every visitor to Rome passes through Largo Argentina at one time or another – maybe without even knowing it. It is the terminus of the #8 tram and a major stop for several important city busses. But with all this to-ing and fro-ing, many people don’t get a chance to gaze past all that to ruins that lay down below the street and seem to be…moving. 

In the midst of the four temples and the remains of the Theatre of Pompey (where Julius Caesar was assassinated) lies another very Roman institution – the Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary. The temples were uncovered during 1927 excavations for an urban renewal project, and construction was permanently halted to preserve the temple area several meters below street level. One by one, stray cats began to take refuge in the ruins, and were cared for by local cat lovers or gattare. In 1995, the Anglo-Italian Society for the Protection of Animals began to support the sanctuary, and a full-fledged shelter now provides medical services and offers adoptions. There is even a ‘cat shop’ selling cat-themed souvenirs. 

You don’t need to visit the shelter itself to encounter the sanctuary’s sizable colony of cats: simply gaze down at the foundations of the great temples and ponder what the countless felines are thinking as they bask in the remains of an empire’s former glory. 

Expat filmmaker Michael W. Hunt has directed an excellent documentary on Rome’s kitties and the sanctuaries where they are cared for, including Largo Argentina. Pick up a copy of Cats of Rome at Amazon.com.