Pyramid of Cestius

The Pyramid of Cestius is an ancient pyramid in Rome, Italy near the Porta San Paolo and the Protestant Cemetery. It stands in a fork between two ancient roads, the Via Ostiensis and another road that ran west to the Tiber along the appoximate line of the modern Via della Marmorata. Due to its incorporation into the city's fortifications, it is today one of the best-preserved ancient buildings in Rome.

The pyramid was built about 18 BC-12 BC as a tomb for Gaius Cestius Epulo, a magistrate and member of one of the four great religious corporations at Rome, the Septemviri Epulonum. It is of brick-faced concrete covered with slabs of white marble standing on a travertine foundation, measuring 100 Roman feet (22 m) square at the base and standing 125 Roman feet (27 m) high.

In the interior is the burial chamber, a simple barrel-vaulted rectangular cavity measuring 5.95 metres long, 4.10 wide and 4.80 high. When it was (re)discovered in 1660, the chamber was found to be decorated with frescoes, which were recorded by Pietro Santi Bartoli, but only the scantest traces of these now remain. There was no trace left of any other contents in the tomb, which had been plundered in antiquity. The tomb had been sealed when it was built, with no exterior entrance; it is not possible for visitors to access the interior.