Villa Adriana Tivoli

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VESTIBULE

The monumental entrance of the Villa on the west side

©MarinaDeFranceschini - Progetto Accademia

49 - VESTIBULE
Description
It was the monumental access in the western area of the villa, where a large driveway arrived, the Paved Roadway (n. 47) which skirted the Hundred Chambers.

The entrance was from the stairway Ve29 which led into the large courtyard Ve26, surrounded by the mosaic-paved porticoes Ve25 and Ve27. On the southern side was a large exedra Ve26.

General view of the Vestibule

Up until the mid-1990s this part of the building was hidden by trees and nothing could be seen; then it was cleaned up.

To the east is another large rectangular space Ve3 paved in opus sectile and surrounded by a series of rooms. From Ve15 an access out in the direction of the Canopus.

Still further east is the garden Ve12 from which the corridor Ve11 heads towards the Cryptoporticus of the Great Baths and the stairway that went up to the Winter Palace.

On the opposite west side are rooms Ve30-32 which, starting from 2014, were excavated by the Columbia University in New York (USA).
A sort of vestibule Ve30 gives access to vast courtyard Ve31, whose walls have alternating semicircular and rectangular niches. At the center of its west side is a small temple Ve32.

View towards VE28

Function and meaning
The curved architecture, the opus sectile floors and its strategic position prove that it belonged to the noble quarters of the Villa reserved for the emperor.

It was the monumental access to the western area of the Villa, which led to two different areas.
The first is the area of the Imperial Residence (nos. 28-36), the space between the Great Baths and Small Baths and in particular the large monumental staircase that went up to the Winter Palace (no. 33).

The second is the Canopus area, where the emperor entertained the most important guests during official banquets.
They arrived with their chariots from the Paved Roadway, at the end of which a large monumental staircase went up to the Vestibule.
It was a very scenic entrance. And then with a gradual and 'surprise' path the guests reached the Canopus.

The small temple Ve32 could have been a sort of Lararium, a temple dedicated to the ancestors, suitably located near one of the entrances to the Villa.

There was no direct connection between the Vestibule and the Poecile, which was a completely separate area.
Under the Vestibule there is a series of cryptoporticoes and subterranean corridors used by the slaves coming from the Hundred Chambers which served the heating systems of the Great and Small Baths. See section 8 Underground Paths.

Bibliography
SEE: Marina De Franceschini, Villa Adriana. Mosaici, pavimenti, edifici. Roma 1991, pp. 287-293 e 537-548.
Reichardt 1933 p. 127-132 tav. 13-20; Rinaldi 2000; Mari - Reggiani - Righi 2001; Mari - Reggiani - Righi 2002; Salza Prina Ricotti 2006.