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Hadrian's Villa

9/23/2007 1:48 PM

8:25 am: Davide insisted we arrive a little early to make sure we left no-one behind. The bus would leave at 8:30, promptly.  Brian, Kyle, John, Jasmine, Ben and Andrew arrived at 8:10.  We were going to make it to Tivoli no matter what.  Hadrian’s Villa has been a phrase spoken with awe by many architects throughout history.  Some of the best Piranesi and Corbusier sketches have come from time spent at the ruins of the amazingly luxurious villa of the Emperor Hadrian.  

As soon as we arrived at Hadrian’s Villa, we headed for the model room.  The museum-like structure was built as a welcoming point for those who visit the ruins.  The scale model displayed in the room offered a great overview of the entire plan of the site, with its baths, theaters, temples, palatial residences and acres of gardens. 

Our next stop is known as the Pecile, a massive courtyard that was surrounded by four porticoes.  It contained a central pool and the north side of the portico was originally a porticus miliaria which was supposedly designed to be an ambulatory for after dinner strolls.  All that is left of this grand porticoed space is a massive wall composed of intricately laid bricks and the central pool.  Next we toured the major parts of the main palace structure, which was built on top of an even older Republican period structure.  Afterwards, we stopped and sketched the area known as the Piazza d’Oro, an amazing complex that interweaves outdoor spaces with grand interior spaces to create a massive structure probably used by Hadrian to receive his court and important diplomats.

One of the most striking images of the day was the main soaring dome of the Grand Baths.  Parts of the dome were damaged and open to the sky, but the image of the dome, now nearly 2000 years old, still withstanding the natural forces of the earth.  Also, we viewed the Small Baths, which are much more architecturally complex and visually powerful than the other baths located around the villa.    

After a quick packed lunch, and a bit of a stroll to aide in the digestion, we continued our tour with Davide.  The highlight of the afternoon was a sketching break at the site known as the Canopus.  This area of the villa encompasses a large water feature designed to mimic a canal located near Alexandria in Egypt.  At the end of the Canal, a large outdoor nympheum in the form of and exedra looked out over the canal.  In this outdoor pavilion, marble benches were placed, and Hadrian and his guests could eat beautiful banquets and look out over the canal with its interesting mix of sculpture from classical Greece, Ancient Egypt and Imperial Rome.  After a quick tour through the museum housing the original sculptures found around and in the Canopus’s canal, we headed back towards our bus and started the journey back home to Roma.