Do you want to know what to see at Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli and whether it is worth coming all the way here? In this post I tell you about my own visit to this beautiful Roman palace, which I discovered to be far more than a simple summer residence.
Why is it so important?
Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli was the “holiday” home of an extraordinary emperor. He conceived it as a true masterpiece of ancient Roman art: a story told in stone of the travels he had made and the cultures he had loved.
But visiting Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli is much more than this.
Here you will feel transported to another age, amazed by the technological achievements the Roman civilisation had already reached almost 2,000 years ago.
Shall we begin?
Why was Hadrian’s Villa built in Tivoli?
Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli takes its name from the emperor Hadrian, who began building it around 118 AD, shortly after coming to the throne. The construction site went on for more than twenty years, and the emperor followed it in person.
Hadrian chose this spot because it was close to Rome and easy to reach. Tivoli was already linked to the city by the Via Tiburtina but, above all, it was an area rich in water: it was precisely here that the aqueducts captured the waters of the Aniene to carry them to Rome.
What was the emperor’s plan?
Water is one of the key elements at Hadrian’s Villa, because it fed fountains, ponds and baths. Unlike the emperor Tiberius, who built his villa perched above the sea at Sperlonga, Hadrian’s palace was designed for “holidays” and for escaping the sultry Roman summers, of course fitted with every comfort.
It is no coincidence that the abundance of water in Tivoli also led to the building of its famous thermal baths.
What is left of Hadrian’s Villa today?
Sadly, only the ruins of Hadrian’s Villa remain. And yet, as I walked along its avenues, I could not help feeling proud and part of our glorious past. If you enjoy retracing the history of Rome, I am sure you will also find the walk along the Appian Way fascinating: I loved it.
But let’s get back to Hadrian’s Villa. Here are a few things you will certainly want to know!
Hadrian’s Villa: palace or city?
Visiting Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli will give you the impression of being in a miniature city, equipped with everything needed to welcome the emperor. Calling it a palace would be an understatement: inside you will find baths, granaries, colonnaded squares, temples, nymphaea, theatres and much more, over an area of more than 120 hectares.
Even though we now see it stripped of most of its furnishings and decoration, the villa remains impressive for its colossal architecture, which has survived the wear of time.
Do you want to know which are the most astonishing structures?
The soaring vaults, the columns, the multi-storey buildings such as the Cento Camerelle (“Hundred Little Rooms”), a complex of chambers set out on four levels, carved into the substructure that supports the terrace of the Pecile, where the servants probably lodged.
Who used all these buildings?
Don’t imagine that only the emperor and his family came to this “miniature city”. The whole court moved here: the servants, the praetorian guards, the advisors and many nobles and friends of the sovereign.
A little like what happened in later centuries at the Royal Palace of Caserta or at Versailles.
But at Hadrian’s Villa you will also find the memory of Greek and Egyptian civilisation.
Do you want to know why?
The Pecile, a piece of Athens in Tivoli
One of the structures that intrigued me the most was the Pecile of Hadrian’s Villa.
What is it?
It is a very long pool (more than 200 metres) surrounded by a colonnaded portico. The idea for this space came from the Stoa Poikile of Athens, the painted portico that Hadrian had admired during his travels.
Today, since the columns are gone, hedges have been planted following its perimeter in imitation of the ancient structure: a solution I found very clever and fitting. With a little imagination, you will feel as though you were standing inside the original portico.
Why is the Pecile so important?
Building this pool and colonnade was only possible thanks to a mighty substructure (the supporting structure) that overcame the difference in ground level, about 15 metres high. And it was right underneath that the Cento Camerelle I just mentioned were built.
In short, another example of the skill of Roman architects.
The Canopus and the Serapeum: Egypt at Hadrian’s Villa
The most famous and photographed structure in the whole villa is without doubt the Canopus, one of the best-preserved and most evocative corners.
What is the Canopus?
It is a long pool surrounded by a colonnade, with arches and statues. It takes its name from Canopus, a city of ancient Egypt near Alexandria, famous for its sanctuaries and its pleasures, which was linked to the metropolis by a canal. Hadrian wanted to recreate its atmosphere here in Tivoli.
Along the long side it is impossible not to notice the four column-women: the caryatids, copies of those on the Erechtheion in Athens, flanked by Egyptian-style statues. In the pool you can even admire the statue of a crocodile: a nod to the Nile and to Egypt which, as you will see in a moment, had a very personal meaning for Hadrian.
What was this space used for?
At the end of the pool opens the Serapeum, a large semicircular building covered by a segmented, umbrella-like dome. Here the lavish imperial banquets were held, made even more spectacular by the water that cascaded all around the guests. The guests reclined on the triclinium to dine and talk while the servants brought them refined dishes.
I almost seemed to see them when we had to shelter under the imposing structure to keep out of the rain! The original statues that decorated the Canopus are now kept in the site’s museum, the Antiquarium: the ones you see outdoors are copies.
The Maritime Theatre of Hadrian’s Villa
If you thought you had already discovered the most beautiful structures at Hadrian’s Villa, you are quite wrong. In this park in Tivoli there is in fact a truly unusual building.
Which one?
It is the Maritime Theatre, a circular portico enclosing a ring of water, with a small circular island at its centre bearing a miniature domus: it had a little atrium, its own baths and even a bedroom.
Emperor Hadrian used to retreat to this secret dwelling to escape the world for a while. The island was connected to the mainland by two small movable bridges that could be drawn back: when Hadrian wanted to be truly alone, he stayed cut off in the middle of the water.
Wouldn’t you like a place like that too, to escape the frenzy of the city?
The Antinoeion and Hadrian’s tragic love story
Now let me tell you a little piece of gossip about Hadrian’s Villa and emperor Hadrian.
Archaeologists believe that one of the buildings near the Cento Camerelle was a place dedicated to the cult of Antinous, the emperor’s young lover, identified in excavations in the early 2000s.
The young man, according to the sources, died prematurely, drowned in the Nile in 130 AD, but his death remains a true mystery.
We know very little about him: he was of Greek origin and was the emperor’s favourite. The bond between Antinous and Hadrian was so intense and deep that it continued even after his death.
In what sense?
The emperor, obsessed with his image and his memory, founded a city he called Antinoöpolis, began to worship and venerate him in the form of Antinous-Osiris, deifying him and spreading his cult throughout the empire. This explains the Egyptian echoes of the Canopus you saw earlier.
Hadrian even held games in his honour in several cities of the empire!
Plenty of rumours circulated about Antinous’ death: all that is known for certain is that he drowned in the river, but no one will ever know whether it was an accident, a suicide or a murder.
Still today, and for centuries, Antinous and Hadrian have been considered one of the most famous same-sex couples in history.
The history of Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli
The buildings of Hadrian’s Villa must have been rich in mosaics, marbles, frescoes and stuccoes.
The gradual abandonment of the palace, from the 3rd century onwards, led to a decay that lasted for centuries. The most precious materials, above all marbles and mosaics, were stripped away to be reused in the villas of the wealthy inhabitants of Tivoli and its surroundings.
The statues that decorated it were scattered across various collections, which we can still admire all over the world: many are in the Vatican Museums and the Capitoline Museums. Two masterpieces of the Capitoline actually come from Hadrian’s Villa: the grey marble Centaurs and the famous Mosaic of the Doves, found in the excavations of 1736-1737.
By the Renaissance Hadrian’s Villa was already known and visited. The architect Pirro Ligorio surveyed it around 1560 while working for cardinal Ippolito II d’Este, and from here he took materials and statues to embellish the nearby Villa d’Este. Borromini, Piranesi and many other artists and intellectuals took an interest in the villa over the centuries, producing engravings, drawings and sketches.
Discoveries continued for centuries, but only after the unification of Italy, when from 1870 the Italian State bought the central core of the villa, did systematic excavation and real protection of the site begin.
In 1999 Hadrian’s Villa was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is today one of the most visited archaeological sites in Italy and in the world.
How to visit Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli
If you want to visit Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli, allow for a few hours: the site is enormous and worth exploring slowly.
Inside the park you can still clearly make out libraries, dormitories, squares and fountains. This palace, set in nature among olive trees, woods and meadows, will take your breath away.
I recommend visiting Hadrian’s Villa with a guide or an audio guide and enjoying the beauty of the archaeological park and its ruins. I found it wonderful to move around at my own pace with an audio explaining what I was looking at: without it, you risk mistaking for a heap of bricks what was once a masterpiece. If you want to organise yourself in advance, you can find the entrance ticket with audio guide here.
Stop to observe the details, the holes in the walls, the columns, the capitals: everything helps you imagine what emperor Hadrian’s palace must have looked like more than 1,900 years ago.
Practical information
- Where: Largo Marguerite Yourcenar 1, Tivoli, about 30 km from Rome.
- Getting there: by car via the A24 motorway (Tivoli exit), roughly 40 minutes from Rome; by public transport, the Cotral bus from Rome (metro line B, Ponte Mammolo) or the regional train to Tivoli followed by a local bus. Bear in mind that the park entrance is some way from the centre of Tivoli.
- Ticket: full price around €12-15 (fares are updated often), reduced €2 for EU citizens aged 18 to 25, free for under 18s and on the first Sunday of the month. It is worth considering the Villae Pass, a single ticket valid for three days that also includes Villa d’Este (the celebrated garden of fountains nearby) and the Sanctuary of Hercules Victor.
- Hours: open every day from 8:15 am, with closing time varying by season (late afternoon in winter, evening in summer); last admission 90 minutes before closing. Closed on 1 January and 25 December. Always check the current price and opening hours on the official website before you go.
What Hadrian’s Villa used to look like
Walking among these ancient buildings, one cannot help asking: what did Hadrian’s Villa look like at the time it was built?
There are several virtual reconstructions that try to restore the colours, the marbles and the domes of the main buildings. Looking at them, perhaps before or after your visit, helps you imagine how sumptuous this residence must have been, and to read with fresh eyes the ruins we now see stripped bare.
My experience at Hadrian’s Villa
Visiting Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli was an unforgettable experience for me. It is one of those places where history is not read on a sign: you walk it, you cross it, you lose yourself in it.
Sometimes it is lovely to be able to relax and let the stones do the telling. If you love this kind of journey into Rome’s past, after Hadrian’s Villa I also recommend Ostia Antica and, further south, the archaeological park of Paestum: three different ways of walking inside the ancient world.
And you, which corner of Hadrian’s Villa would you start your visit from: the Canopus, the Maritime Theatre or the Pecile?
