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THE VILLAS<br />
OF THE CITY<br />
OUTSKIRTS<br />
Villa Medici on the Pincio,<br />
on the site <strong>of</strong> the ancient<br />
Villa <strong>of</strong> Lucullus<br />
Substructures <strong>of</strong> the Pincio<br />
in Viale del Muro Torto<br />
VILLAS<br />
OF ANCIENT<br />
ROME<br />
3 2<br />
Today almost nothing visible is left,<br />
but what was seen in the past, what<br />
remains below the structures and the<br />
gardens <strong>of</strong> the Villa Medici and the<br />
Convent <strong>of</strong> the Sacred Heart at Trinità<br />
dei Monti, and what has been found in<br />
recent excavations, not yet completed,<br />
allows us to “reconstruct” the main<br />
features <strong>of</strong> the villa and its overall<br />
structure. The complex was developed<br />
with a series <strong>of</strong> “terraces” connected<br />
with ramps <strong>of</strong> steps facing the<br />
Campus Martius and the course <strong>of</strong> the<br />
river Tiber. Its most renowned element<br />
was on the summit <strong>of</strong> the entire complex<br />
and consisted <strong>of</strong> an imposing<br />
curvilinear structure (almost 200<br />
metres in diameter) that covered<br />
the entire area included<br />
between the Villa Medici and<br />
Trinità dei Monti. It probably<br />
had porticoes and was supported<br />
by a massive terraced<br />
wall (still partially visible in<br />
the 1500s). The structure is<br />
commonly identified with the<br />
“Nymphaeum <strong>of</strong> Jupiter”,<br />
mentioned by sources and perhaps<br />
dating from the period in<br />
which the villa belonged to<br />
Valerius Atticus. A complex<br />
system <strong>of</strong> canalizations carved<br />
out <strong>of</strong> the tufa and ending<br />
inside Villa Medici initially<br />
ensured the water supply later<br />
obtained with double connections<br />
to the Aqua Claudia and the<br />
Anio Novus. A large still visible<br />
cistern having the capacity <strong>of</strong><br />
1000 square metres was instead<br />
built during the late 4 th century<br />
phase. Recent excavations under<br />
Villa Medici led to the exploration<br />
<strong>of</strong> important structures<br />
including a large apse (14 metres<br />
in diameter) provided with a<br />
heating plant, richly decorated<br />
and covered with marble, dating<br />
from the time <strong>of</strong> Honorius. In<br />
the basement <strong>of</strong> the Convent <strong>of</strong><br />
the Sacred Heart there is a complex <strong>of</strong><br />
six chambers connected to three different<br />
corridors and to a cryptoporticus.<br />
On an upper level there are rooms<br />
with mosaic floors. Below the nearby<br />
Biblioteca Hertziana, in the via<br />
Gregoriana, there is a long foundation<br />
wall <strong>of</strong> the late republican period later<br />
transformed (perhaps in the Julio-<br />
Claudian era) with a series <strong>of</strong> niches<br />
into a nymphaeum . Its wall was decorated<br />
with mythological and sacred<br />
landscapes in glass paste mosaic. The<br />
structures known as “Muro Torto”,<br />
along the avenue with the same name,<br />
belonged to the villa and were substructures<br />
<strong>of</strong> the northern section.