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Villas of Ancient Rome - IBAM

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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.

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