Frommer's Review
In the 2nd century A.D., the globe-trotting Hadrian spent the last 3 years of his life in grand style. Less than 6.5km (4 miles) from Tivoli, he built one of the greatest estates ever erected, and he filled acre after acre with some of the architectural wonders he'd seen on his many travels. Perhaps as a preview of what he envisioned for himself, the emperor even created a representation of hell. Hadrian was a patron of the arts, a lover of beauty, and even something of an architect. His staggering feat of building was more than a villa: It was a self-contained world for a vast royal entourage and the hundreds of servants and guards they required to protect them, feed them, bathe them, and satisfy their libidos.
Hadrian erected theaters, baths, temples, fountains, gardens, and canals bordered with statuary throughout his estate. He filled the palaces and temples with sculpture, some of which now rest in the museums of Rome. In later centuries, barbarians and popes, as well as anyone who needed a slab of marble, carted off much that made the villa so spectacular. But enough of the fragmented ruins remain for us to piece together the story. For a look at what the villa used to be, see the plastic model at the entrance.
One of the two most outstanding and evocative ruins is the Canopo, or Canopus, a re-creation of the town of Canope with its famous Temple of the Serapis. The ruins of a rectangular area, Piazza d'Oro, are still surrounded by a double portico. Likewise, the Sala dei pilastri dorici, or Doric Pillared Hall, is still a delight, with its pilasters with Doric bases and capitals holding up a Doric architrave. The ruins of the Baths remain, revealing rectangular rooms with concave walls. The apse and the ruins of some magnificent vaulting are still found at the Great Baths. Only the north wall remains of the Pecile, or Poikile, which Hadrian discovered in Athens and had reproduced here. The other great ruin, Teatro Marittimo, is a circular maritime theater in ruins with its central building enveloped by a canal spanned by small swing bridges. For a closer look at some of the items excavated, you can visit the museum on the premises and a museum and visitor center near the villa parking area.
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