Among the villas in the Roman countryside, Villa Adriana, which was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999, certainly stands out.
Villa Adriana is an impressive archaeological site located near Tivoli, the ancient Tiber, approximately 30 km from Rome.
The history of Villa Adriana
The Villa takes its name from the Emperor Hadrian who was a lover of Greek and classical art. He got inspiration for the architecture of his villa from Greek and Egyptian monuments. Hadrian was also an incredible architect , a poet and musician.
The Villa was built in the 2nd century and is a complex of buildings covering an area of 120 hectares.
Inside the Villa, you will often feel as if you are getting lost, entering an atmosphere pervaded by luxury and elegance, constantly immersed in nature.
Hadrian’s intention was to recreate a place outside of time and space, and almost 2000 years later we can say that he has achieved his goal!
How to visit Villa Adriana in Tivoli
To visit Hadrian’s Villa you can choose to take a specialized guide and do the full tour lasting 2.30/3.00h (highlights only 1.30h) or visit on your own and let yourself be carried away by the magic of this place.
Visiting the villa is potentially endless, so to help you out below are our favorite places.
● Stadium Nymphaeum: today only partly visitable, it owes its name to the water lilies that served as decoration
● Pecile: was a four-sided portico, which bordered a garden with a large central pool decorated with beautiful statues representing heroes. The pool was fed by a Roman Aqueduct carrying water inside the villa. There was also an artificial Grotto called Serapeum because it was dedicated to the God Serapis.
● Canopus: Canopus was the name of a port in Egypt on the River Nile, the villa’s canopus represents the rectangular canal that connected the ancient port on the Nile to the new port in Alexandria
● Teatro marittimo: it was surrounded by Ionic columns framed by a canal . Access to the theater was possible from a room with a porch , from the Philosophy Hall and from the Library Courtyard. The theater was especially used as a popular venue for parties and banquets for the emperor.
● Large and Small Baths: The special feature of this area is the frigidarium, a large rectangular room with a cross vault, frigidarium was the part of the ancient Roman baths where cold water baths could be taken.
The villa was decorated with beautiful marbles brought from Greece and Egypt on purpose for the decoration of the villa. The Emperor Hadrian during his journeys had the chance to discover the Greek and Egyptian monuments and marbles.
You can visit some of the mosaics of Hadrian Villa inside the Vatican Museums in the Cabinet of the Masks.
A tour inside Hadrian’s Villa is like a journey in the past.
An unmissable change to visit the Roman countryside
For all going to Rome we definitely suggest discovering the roman countryside with amazing villas which were the summer residence of the wealthy people.
A tour to Tivoli and to Hadrian’s villa is a perfect balance of nature’s beauty and ancient ruins from the imperial age.
Our advice is to take the opportunity to visit the Hadrian’s villa with a guide who will bring ancient art and history back to life!
