Ara Pacis, an ancient and very precious monument, became museum and  accessible to the public on April 21st, 2006 after a long and careful restoration job since it was inserted into a new and very up dated housing designed by the American architect Richard Meier.

The complex now presents itself as a fusion of old and new, protecting and seeking to get the most of the monument . New rooms are added to place marble remains, panels and plastic so  to help the visitors to understand the history of the Field of Mars (Campus Martius) in the Augustan age and the exact location of the Ara that stood between the huge Solar clock (Sundial of Augustus) and the Mausoleum the dynastic tomb, built by Augustus for himself and his family.

The gallery of access leads to the central pavilion which houses the Ara Pacis, in full natural light filtered through 500 square meters of crystals and plays on the contrast of light and shadow.

The Ara was built between 13 and 9 B.C. to celebrate the new Pax Augustea after a period of civil wars that bloodied Rome and that ended when Augustus got the power.

The monument is one of the masterpieces of the Augustan art, with elegance and harmony, makes clear the Augustus’ propaganda message; the connection of the gens Iulia (his own) with Aeneas and Romulus and the new “golden age” created by him dominated by peace and prosperity for Rome.

The lower register of the external enclosure is decorated with a delicate tuft of acantoo all around the four sides of the monument, while the upper part shows a solemn procession in which the visitors recognize Augustus, his family and his successors (Livia, Agrippa, Tiberius, Gaius and Lucius Caesar).

On the altar a few parts of a frieze, showing scenes of sacrifice, are placed.