Hadrian's Villa
The Villa Adriana, or Hadrian's Villa was 118-134 AD, about 30 kilometers north-east of Rome, 6 km from Tivoli ( ancient name: Tibur ) developed as a summer residence and age where the Roman Emperor Hadrian. The system consisted of approximately 120 acres of built-up areas and green areas on which Hadrian rebuild the thumbnails of many buildings and landscapes, which he had seen on his travels, mainly in Greece and Egypt. The villa is the largest and most elaborate palace that ever had built a Roman emperor, and is often compared to Versailles. The system had great significance for the development of garden design and was the model for many baroque gardens.
Conditioning and individual buildings
The now accessible area covers about 40 acres. In the museum of Villa, a model is exhibited, showing how the villa would have looked to Hadrian's times.
The most famous buildings of the Villa Adriana are the Heliocaminus equipped with wall and ceiling heating, a part of the great Roman baths, and the Canopus, a replica of a canal in Egypt, which connected the city Canopus with Alexandria, and at the end of which another triclinium, which was named after an inscription Serapeium ( here referring to a temple of the god Serapis ), followed, and the so-called Teatro Marit Timo, a round pool with an island in the middle that could reach over two swing bridges. On this island, a small villa was housed in the Hadrian could withdraw. To the moat was a portico, so a circular wall.
Furthermore, a Greek and Latin library were in the plant (actually Sommertriclinien who received their false names in the Renaissance ), Guest Houses, a gladiatorial arena, a Greek theater for about 500 spectators, a palace with a basilica, also known as courtroom served, the Odeon, a circular building for theater and music performances and a stadium. The individual components are indeed self-contained, but free in the room combined ( conglomerate ). They are the composite Roman Empire symbolize in its diversity and unity. The system is integrated into the hilly landscape. Concrete domes up to about 17 m in diameter form on numerous buildings, a preferred means of ceiling finish:
- Serapeum: 16.75 m
- Summer triclinium ( Exedra ): 12.00 m
- Heliocaminus: 11.90 m
- Small Baths: 10.40 m to 9.40 m
- Piazza d' Oro ( vestibule ): 9.50 m
- Heliocaminus: 7.60 m to 6.20 m
Formation and rediscovery
The core of the villa is far older than Hadrian; it dates from late Republican period, which can be inferred from the character of the masonry. Who were the previous owners of the villa, however, remains unclear. While the older core could have belonged to the imperial treasury, as even Augustus and Claudius had villas in Tibur, but on the other hand is the fact that the villa was in his possession before Hadrian's accession to the throne. Therefore, it is believed that Hadrian's wife Sabina they brought with the around the turn of the first closed to the 2nd century marriage. Between 118 and 134 AD, Hadrian was to expand the villa as a summer residence and retirement home. In the extensive grounds Hadrian spent the final years of his reign, received here philosophers and intellectuals or retired to have his peace.
After the death of Hadrian, the villa was apparently in the possession of Antoninus Pius, who but rarely used, as was done also in the subsequent period. Around 300 AD, Emperor Constantine I bring many art treasures and precious marble from the villa complex to Byzantium. The plant was later destroyed twice, once from 600 AD and again in 800 AD The first mention of the Villa Hadriana finds himself in 1450 in Italia illustrata of Flavio Biondo.
At the turn of the 16th century began under Pope Alexander VI. first excavations. Although the careless destruction was halted, but not the plunder and spoliation of the ruins. So from the Villa Adriana adorn many works of art, the villa of Cardinal d' Este in Tivoli, of which the first archaeological photographs and descriptions of the architectural remains originate, or are now in various museums in Europe, including in Rome (eg in Vatican Museum ) issued. Particularly noteworthy are the mosaics that were found in 1779 in the triclinium of the Little Palace. The Centaurs Mosaic, one of the most beautiful in the world, located since 1848 in the Altes Museum, Berlin. In 1871, the Hadrian's villa became the property of the Italian government, the excavations continued with the aim of preserving the free Laid.
Since 1999, Hadrian's Villa is a World Heritage Site by Unesco.
In 2010, about 108,800 people visited the Hadrian's Villa, while there were still about 187,000 in 2000. In summer 2011, parts of Hadrian's Villa were closed because of danger of collapse.
Others
The German jurist Carl Hau celebrated on 5 February 1926 in the ruins of Villa Adriana suicide.