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VILLA ADRIANA by MARINA DE FRANCESCHINI

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COURTYARD OF THE LIBRARIES

The garden of the ancient republican villa

©MarinaDeFranceschini - Progetto Accademia

18 - COURTYARD OF THE LIBRARIES

Description

Originally it was the walled garden of the ancient republican villa which was later enclosed into the Hadrianic buildings. Proof of this are some walls in opus incertum, a building technique typical of the Republican age.

On the north side, almost in the centre, there is the Nymphaeum CB3 also built in opus incertum. Inside there were niches for statues, from which jets of water flowed.

On both sides of the ancient Nymphaeum, the Greek Library (to the west) and the Latin Library (to the east) were built.

Nymphaeum CB3

The central part of the Courtyard of the Libraries, CB1 was certainly arranged as a garden, but it has never been excavated; there is a big pine tree in the center and many olive trees.

The garden was surrounded by the portico CB2, which had small columns, one still in situ. It was paved in opus sectile, a fragment is visible in the northwest corner together with the imprints of the slabs in the mortar.

One of the stairs going up to the Imperial Palace

Function and meaning

It was a closed garden that served to give access to several surrounding buildings.

On the north side two narrow corridors on either side of the Nymphaeum CB3 led to the Upper Terrace of the Libraries, and some doors open towards the Latin Library and the Greek Library.

On the east side there were two other entrances towards the Hospitalia and from there to the Imperial Triclinium.

On the south side there is the entrance to the Cryptoporticus with Mosaic Vault. Two symmetrical stairs, built inside the retaining wall, went up to the Imperial Palace, together with a third stair which is still in use today.

Finally, on the west side there is an access to the Baths with Heliocaminus and a stair that descends to the Maritime Theater, which is on a lower level.

The opus sectile pavements prove that the building belonged to the noble quarters of the Villa reserved for the emperor.

See: Marina De Franceschini, Villa Adriana. Mosaici, pavimenti, edifici, 1991. Cortile delle Biblioteche: pp. 93-97 e 391-396.