The Romans celebrated April as the Sacred Month of Venus, Goddess of Love, Beauty, Fertility, and Sex…
Her presence is eternal…you see her all over Italy, in sculptures, paintings. You feel her spirit beckoning you to lighten up, enjoy all the flavors and pleasures…Here in the Uffizi in Florence is the Botticelli painting of her being born from the sea…
The Romans believed they were the chosen descendants of this beauty. As Virgil wrote in the Aeneid, it was Venus who seduced a Greek mortal and thus became the grandmother of Romulus and Remus, those twins suckled by a she-wolf on Rome’s Palatine Hill, who founded the Eternal City.
Here is the Temple of Venus and Roma in the Roman Forum…
Here she is in Rome’s Capitoline Museum, in her own private niche..
Here she is in the Naples Archaeological Museum, as Venus of the BeautifulButtocks…
Here she is in The House of Venus, Pompeii…
AND in Sicily, in the town of Erice, you’ll discover the Venus Castle, built by the Normans, over the ruins and using the stones of the Roman’s Goddess’s temple.
Around the castle, you’ll find a succulent growing, Ombelico di Venere = Venus’s Navel…
AND the legend goes that the shape of Bologna’s tortellini pasta specialty, was inspired by Venus’s belly button!
It’s no wonder Italy brings us such happiness, with this Goddess in charge, beckoning us to ENJOY all the sensual pleasures the Bel Paese has to offer.
For more places where Venus, her sister Goddesses, Madonnas, and heroines are adored…check out 100 Places in Italy Every Woman Should Go…
