Pyramid of Cestius

About this place

The pyramid of Cestius is an ancient Roman pyramid in Rome, Italy, near the Porta San Paolo and the Protestant Cemetery. It was built in the style of the Nubian pyramids as a tomb for Gaius Cestius, a member of the Epulones religious corporation. It stands at a fork between two ancient roads, the Via Ostiensis and another road that ran west to the Tiber along the approximate line of the modern Via Marmorata. Due to its incorporation into the city's fortifications, it is today one of the best-preserved ancient buildings in Rome. During your visit, give the inscriptions and the arrangement of the site as much attention as its architecture. These details help explain who is remembered here and how later generations chose to preserve that memory.