In Tivoli, a town near Rome, there is one of the most beautiful residential buildings built during the long existence of the Roman Empire. On an area of about a hundred hectares, more than thirty individual buildings of this unique urban complex were built, which, although devastated by centuries of looting and devastation, still show traces of their former glory.
Plan of the Hadrian’s Villa complex
1. Greek Theater 2. Palestra 3. Nymphaeum of Fede 4. Terrace of Tempe 5. Lower terrace of the library 6. Pavilion of Tempe 7. Imperial Triclinium 8. Hospitalia 9. Latin Library 10. Greek Library 11. Library courtyard 12. Imperial Palace 13. Cryptoporticus 14. Hall with Doric Columns 15. Golden Square 16. Stoa Poikile 17. Hall of Philosophers 18. Naval Theater 19. Baths 20. Casino 21. Stadium Garden 22. Winter Palace 23. Quadriporticus 24. Small Baths 25. Vestibule 26. Great Baths 27. Praetorium 28. Canopus 29. Roccabruna 30. Academy 31. Temple of Apollo 32. Odeon 33. Inferi 34. Large Trapezium 35. Mausoleum 36. Pluton’s temple
The villa was built by Emperor Hadrian as his residence, known as one of the Five Good Emperors, a great ruler and military leader under whose reign the Roman Empire reached its furthest borders and was consolidated. The Emperor encouraged the construction of many buildings, including the 120-kilometer-long wall in England that protected the Roman border from barbarian invasions from the north, now known as Hadrian’s Wall. During his reign, the Pantheon was also built, and some historians believe that Hadrian himself completed the plans for the temple. In the center of Rome, he built the Angel’s Fortress or Castel Sant’Angelo as his mausoleum.
However, among all the buildings he erected, the villa in Tivoli holds a special place.
One of the statues at the entrance to Canopus.
The history of the villa
Tivoli, or ancient Tibur, is located about ten kilometers southwest of Rome, in a pleasant landscape of green hills and a network of streams, creeks, and healing sulfur springs. ora. Since the time of the Republic, Tivoli has been a place where wealthy Romans built their summer residences and country houses to relax from the hustle and bustle of the city. After Trajan’s death in 117, when Hadrian was proclaimed emperor, he decided to build his official residence in Tivoli.
The land on which the villa is located is situated a few kilometers from Tivoli itself and belonged to the family of the emperor’s wife, Sabina, Trajan’s niece. There was already a small country house built in the 1st century BC, which had a traditional layout of a Roman domus with a garden and a house with an atrium and peristyle. Some parts of it were incorporated into the imperial villa. Construction lasted throughout Hadrian’s reign, with some smaller parts being completed even after his death, during the reign of Antoninus Pius. It is mentioned that parts of the buildings with which the emperor-architect was not satisfied were demolished upon his return from journeys and military campaigns in order to build anew. The attire was in line with his expectations.
From one of Hadrian’s letters, it can be seen that the villa was already being used as an imperial residence in 125 AD. Here, he could carry out all his diplomatic duties while also ensuring his privacy, far away from the court and Senate that surrounded him in Rome.
After Hadrian’s death, the villa was inhabited until late antiquity when it was ravaged by barbarians. During the Middle Ages, it served as a source of building material for the construction of the city of Tivoli. It was “rediscovered” in the late 15th century and gained fame after Pope Pius II Piccolomini visited its ruins and described them in his work Commentarii.
Stoa Poikile
Modeled after the homonymous stoas in Athens, a large esplanade was built, known as Poikile. It mostly lies on a structure called Cento Camerelle (Hundred Chambers) and in some places, it reaches a height of over twenty meters. In the middle of the terrace, there is a large basin Euripus, Around him are gardens and a long promenade with colonnades which, according to some sources, was intended for the emperor’s walk after dinner. It is assumed that there was a race track for chariots around the pool, so this building is also called the Hippodrome.
During the Renaissance and Baroque periods, almost every architect visited Hadrian’s villa, not only to find inspiration for their own works, but also to discover the secret of Roman architectural genius. The villa was visited and studied by Pirro Ligorio, Andrea Palladio, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Borromini, Piranesi, Canova and many others. Some of them left sketches and drawings of the ruins, and even attempts at reconstructing certain buildings. At the same time, the greatest plundering of the villa’s remains was taking place, with every excavation actually being a treasure hunt. The statues found within the villa are now located in museums and private collections around the world, while the rich marble decorations have only been preserved in traces.
Today, Hadrian’s villa has the status of a protected monument. and the UNESCO World Heritage Site. The research conducted on the villa’s grounds has still not covered a third of the complex and will surely last for decades.
Kanop and the Sanctuary of Serapis
Kanop was an Egyptian city located on the Nile Delta, not far from Alexandria, and was known for the sanctuary dedicated to Serapis, the main deity of the Ptolemaic era. A canal, also called Kanop, led from the Nile to the Sanctuary of Serapis. One of the most beautiful ensembles of Hadrian’s villa was built based on this Egyptian model.
Along a small valley, a pool measuring 119×18 meters, named Kanop, was excavated, ending at the Sanctuary of Serapis. At the entrance of Kanop, there was a semicircular colonnade with statues of Mars, Mercury, and Minerva, while along the longer side of the canal stood Caryatids, replicas of those from the Erechtheion on the Acropolis of Athens, and two statues of Silenus. They carried a canopy that was reflected in the water of the canal.
At the southern end of Kanop was a nymphaeum, the Sanctuary of Serapis. It was a semicircular structure with colonnades, adorned with statues and fountains, where visitors could worship and seek spiritual fulfillment. The sanctuary was a significant part of the villa’s complex and played a central role in the religious and cultural activities of the time. an apsidal construction with eight niches, in which statues were placed, and an artificial cave in the background connected with a series of underground pools and waterfalls through a canal. The main hall was adorned with statues of Isis, Osiris, and Ptah, and covered with a semi-dome with a diameter of 22 meters. Most of the statues from the Serapis sanctuary are now located in the Vatican and Capitoline Museums. Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720-1778) created several graphics depicting the remains of Hadrian’s Villa. This one shows the ruins of the Praetorium. Architecture of the villa: Since much of the villa remains unexplored, it is difficult to reconstruct and understand this enormous complex as a whole. Specifically, unlike any ruler before him, Hadrian was a versatile man of cosmopolitan spirit and a great appreciation for culture, poetry, art, and science. During his reign, he spent a lot of time on long journeys throughout the Empire, where he became acquainted with Greek and Egyptian culture. Certain parts of the villa were influenced by these cultures, with elements of Greek and Egyptian architecture and art incorporated into the design. vile tako reproduciraju neke od zgrada koje je vidio na svojim putovanjima i koje su na njega ostavile posebno snažan dojam. Prema tome, pretpostavlja se da je većina zgrada unutar kompleksa izgrađena prema njegovim idejama.
Karijatide pokraj Kanopa.
Neki od najvažnijih objekata na području vile su: Grčki teatar, Palestra, Careva dvorana za objedovanje, Bolnica, Grčka knjižnica, Latinska knjižnica, Dvorana filozofa, Zlatni trg, Careva palača, Terme, Stoa Poikile, Dvorana s dorskim stupovima, Vrt Stadion, Zimska palača, Pretorij, Kanop, Pomorsko kazalište (Teatro Marittimo) itd. Osim samih zgrada, tu su bile i terase, umjetne špilje, bazeni, fontane, vodopadi, ribnjaci i jezerca koja su odražavala zgrade koje su se slobodno rasprostrle među zelenilom, cvjetnim gredicama i nasadima, kao i stambeni prostori sa životinjama, pticama i zabavnim parkom.
Iako izgleda lako dostupna, vila je bila zaštićena i dobro čuvana kako bi carev boravak bio siguran. Oko vile su bile postavljene The long protective walls were dotted with limited access roads that were constantly guarded. Individual buildings were interconnected by roads and paths designed to be easily monitored.
The main entrance to the villa was a paved road with a carriage turnaround that led to the Vestibule. Recently, a side entrance for slaves was also discovered next to the main entrance. In addition to the aboveground system of paths and roads used by the emperor, his entourage, and guests, there existed an invisible underground system intended for servants. Hadrian’s villa has an incredible network of underground streets and galleries that connect various buildings. They were used to transport food, drinks, and fuel for the baths, and servants and slaves could move unnoticed between different buildings. In the area of Grande Trapezio, one of the longest underground service streets, it stretched over four kilometers and even had small openings in the vault for lighting. .
Names of buildings
The current names of various buildings and surroundings within the villa were established during the Renaissance when the first researchers, particularly Ligorio, compared them to descriptions from the work Historia Augusta, which referred to Hadrian’s travels to different provinces of the Empire. Although some of them are considered doubtful today, these names are still in use to avoid confusion that could arise from giving new names.
One of the several found statues of Hadrian’s friend Antinous.
Hadrian, bust from the Capitoline Museum.
Buildings intended for servants were usually not freestanding, but were typically a series of rooms located within the substructure of other buildings or defensive walls. They were constructed on multiple floors connected by wooden staircases and galleries. The rooms were paved with brick or rough mosaic, and the walls were plain and roughly plastered. They were directly connected to the underground street network. This group includes buildings of the Cento Camerelle complex.
The secondary buildings were simple standalone rectangular buildings located in secluded, often hidden areas. Access roads and entrances were open but hidden and separated from those leading to the residential area. There was also a connection to the underground road system. The decorations and finishes were richer compared to the areas for servants, but not luxurious. The mosaics were black and white, with plant or geometric patterns, and the walls were decorated with simple frescoes. In this group of buildings were the Grand Baths, a bathing area for residents of the secondary part of the villa and slaves, and the Hospitium, where the emperor’s Praetorian Guard lived.
These two groups of buildings were actually treated as service buildings, and only in the architecture of the residential buildings can one see the full magnificence and monumentality of Hadrian’s Villa.
Remains of the Winter Palace.
Residential buildings
It is impossible to briefly describe all the residential buildings. The buildings of Hadrian’s Villa, and not just because of their number, but also because of the great diversity of their styles, techniques, shapes, and structures. They occupy the largest part of the villa, located in dominant locations with panoramic views of the surroundings and are interconnected by wide open access roads and atriums.
In the baths and in some of the most important buildings, there was a heating system, and most of the buildings had running water. The garden dining room, or triclinium with running water, was an essential element of imperial and noble estates. Water played an important role as there were a large number of water pools, nymphaea, and fountains within the villa grounds, and the abundance of water was proof of wealth and luxury. The remains of an aqueduct, probably connected to a large public water supply system for Rome, can still be seen.
In the central part of the complex, there is a series of buildings that researchers have identified as the imperial residence within the villa. These include the Winter Palace, the Garden S Stadium, Guard Barracks, Small Baths, etc., and the way these buildings were interconnected, access roads and checkpoints provided security and privacy for the emperor and his entourage. Each building, on a monumental, imperial scale, corresponds to the elements of a Roman domus, as described by Vitruvius. It was the heart of the villa and the place where the emperor spent most of his time.
Maritime Theater (Teatro Marittimo)
The Maritime Theater is the most enigmatic in its meaning and the most original and complex in its architectural sense in Hadrian’s Villa. Its layout consists of a series of concentric forms, and the entire structure is completely built with curves, circular shapes, and winding vaults.
Around the circular moat is a covered porch with forty marble Ionic columns, and behind it is a five-meter-high circular brick wall. Inside the water moat is a small island where the central pavilion is located, as well as a series of smaller accompanying rooms, including small baths. Access to the islet was through two movable wooden bridges.
According to the opinion of some contemporary authors, the Maritime Theater is actually a symbolic image of the cosmos, where the island represents the Earth, and the circular moat represents the primordial ocean that surrounds the Earth. Furthermore, some ancient sources state that the central pavilion was covered with a wooden or bronze dome with a planetarium mechanism that reproduced the movement of stars and planets. In accordance with this, this dome represents the sky in which the stars continuously move, and the entire concentric structure reflects the ancient concept of the Universe consisting of a series of spheres contained within each other. It is here that the emperor, whose passion for astrology was well-known, consulted with the stars.
Part of the model with the reconstruction of the entire villa complex.
The famous mosaic depicting doves is now preserved in the Capitoline Museum.
Since the time of the Renaissance, many authors have tried to define the role and meaning of Hadrian’s Villa because it clearly was not just a Oh, the imperial palace. The grandeur and monumentality of its buildings surpassed the needs of everyday life, even if it was for such an important person as the emperor. According to one explanation, it is a diary of Hadrian’s travels, where each building corresponds to a famous structure he saw on his journeys. According to another, the emperor created a sort of exhibition where he showcased the virtuosity and skill of his builders and artists. However, such explanations are quite superficial, considering that Hadrian was always spoken of as an exceptionally intelligent, progressive, and educated man. It is much more likely that most of the buildings were constructed in order to express certain ideas related to the different cultures and religions he encountered throughout his life, which left an impression on him.
In any case, just as we can only imagine today what Hadrian’s villa looked like in its full glory, so is the true intention of its creator distant to us. a vague idea. Perhaps future investigations will help clarify the meaning of a fairy as a whole and provide answers to all the unknowns we currently have.