Villa Adriana Tivoli

Untitled 1

VILLA ADRIANA by MARINA DE FRANCESCHINI

Responsive Flat Dropdown Menu Demo

Home → Buildings → Selected Building

CANOPUS

The spectacular summer Triclinium where the emperor received "in style"

©MarinaDeFranceschini - Progetto Accademia

51 - CANOPUS

Description
The Canopus is the most famous and photographed building of Villa Adriana. It has a very long basin of water, called Euripus and at the end is the so-called Serapeum, which was actually a spectacular summer triclinium.

The main hall is the semicircular Ca2, covered by an half umbrella dome, with alternatively concave and flat triangles, once revetted with mosaics.

At the center of the room is the semicircular bed of the Triclinium (stibadium) on which the guests would find a place, relaxing at the sound of the water that flowed all around.

The water came from the so-called Antrum Ca1, a long room that goes into the hill, located on a higher level. The water flowed into a basin passing under a sort of small bridge. Then overflowed with a cascade and poured into the channels, which were revetted in white marble, and were going all around the stibadium. The small bridge was accessed with a stair in room Ca13.

The so-called Antrum of the Canopus

and the Stibadium for the guests

In the semicircular niches Ca4, 6, 8 and 10 statues were set. The rectangular ones Ca3, 5, 7 and 9 have a series of steps from which a waterfall descended in a cascade. The water coming from the channels and that from the fountains ended up in a central semicircular basin, from which it flowed into the rectangular basin Ca31 and then into the Euripus.

In front of the Triclinium was a long corridor Ca21 which connected secondary corridors Ca22 and 23 to the east, and Ca24 and 25 to the west. They revolved around two groups of symmetrical rooms, each with an apsidal exedra Ca27 or Ca36.

In the inner part of the building, which goes into the hill, there are some large rooms Ca12-17 to the east, including a single latrine Ca14.
On the west side, on the other hand, is the large Cryptoporticus Ca11, illuminated by quadrangular openings in the vault. Once if was frescoed, but the frescoes were detached in the 1960s, left in a room of the Great Baths for decades and then were moved elsewhere.

To reach the upper part of the Villa and the Nymphaeum above the Canopus, there were two staircases.
The first one, Ca37, leads to a long corridor paved with polychrome mosaic; the second, Ca18, goes up on the opposite side and both led to the Nymphaeum above the Canopus and its esplanade (no. 52).

The Canopus was mainly paved in opus sectile, the basins, fountains and water channels were revetted in white marble. The walls were covered in marble and the dome had traces of colored mosaic.

The aqueduct of the Canopus passing above the arches

Going up the Ca18 staircase on top of the building, it is possible to see the arches over which passed the aqueduct that fed the waterworks of the Triclinium.
The water came from a large basin carved into the rock bank south of the building, which was once visible.

The Euripus was instead flanked by pergolas supported by small columns. On its northern side two statues of Amazons, Mars and a Doryphoros were found, as well as a Crocodile and the two rivers Tiber and Nile.
A group of Scylla was also placed on a squared base in the basin.

Along the west side of the Euripus, the Aurigemma excavations unearthed four statues of Caryatids, copies of those of the Erechtheion in Athens and two statues of Silenus holding a basket on his head.
The sculptures are now in the Antiquarium and have been replaced by copies.

One of the Caryatids in the Antiquarium

Function and meaning
The spectacular architecture, the waterworks, the rich marble decoration, the polychrome mosaics and the single latrine prove that this building belonged to the noble quarters where the emperor lived.

It was certainly a triclinium intended to host sumptuous official banquets. The diners lay down on the stibadium, and in the center of the semicircle there was room for the orchestra and the actors or dancers who entertained the guests.

The emperor, on the other hand, was inside the so-called Antrum CA1, suspended high above the small bridge, surrounded by water. It was in an elevated and safe position, corresponding to that of a royal box in a theatre, where there was the best view and the best acoustics.

The Canopus is perhaps the only one of the buildings of Villa Adriana that can be identified with the ancient ones mentioned in the Historia Augusta. In fact, it is inspired by the famous Canopus canal near Alexandria in Egypt where grandiose banquets were held.

The hypothesis is confirmed by the discovery of numerous statues of Egyptian iconography, mostly of black marble; they were discovered in the eighteenth century during the excavations of the Jesuits, who owned the Canopus. They are now in the Vatican Museums.

SEE. Marina De Franceschini, Villa Adriana. Mosaici, pavimenti, edifici. Roma 1991, pp. 297-314 e 563-576 with previous bibliography
Aurigemma 1954, 1955 e 1956; Tiberi 1939; Hannestad 1983; Jashemski 1992; Fahlbusch 2008; Placidi 2008; Betori 2006; Pensabene 2011.