This beautifully preserved Roman temple once marked the centre of the town of Assisi. It was built in the 1st Century by Gneus Cesius and Titus Cesius Priscus. It was thought to be a temple dedicated to Minerva when a female statue was unearthed here though the discovery of an earlier plague suggests in was in honour of Hercules. The façade has six columns and Corinthian capitals. In 1539 the inner sanctum of the temple became the church of Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, and was later altered into the present Baroque style during the 17th Century.