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VILLA ADRIANA by MARINA DE FRANCESCHINI

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ROCCABRUNA

"Light & Sound": one of the magic sites od Archeoastronomy at Villa Adriana

©MarinaDeFranceschini - Progetto Accademia

53 - ROCCABRUNA

Description
Just before the West substructures of the Canopus, a path leads to Roccabruna, which is located at the north-west end of the Accademia Esplanade, to which it was the main access.

Currently only a large masonry cube remains, which was once surmounted by an octagonal small temple; its collapsed remains are visible all around in the grass.

In the sixteenth century the Casino Soliardi was built in place of the temple, then demolished in 1881.

The main entrance Rb5 was preceded by the portico Rb2 onto which two large apses Rb3-4 opened.

The domed hall RB6

The main hall Rb6 has four semicircular niches on the diagonal axes and other four rectangular ones; the first towards Rb5 is the entrance door, the other two side niches have large windows while the niche in front of the entrance housed a statue.

This large hall is covered by a blind dome and was paved in opus sectile with concentric triangles, the imprints of which can be seen in the mortar.

One of the rectangular niches gives access to corridor Rb7 and then to room Rb8 which housed a single latrine. Another latrine was in Rb21, where the Jesuits, then owners of the building, built a chapel in the eighteenth century.

On the back of the building towards the embankment is the corridor Rb9 which gives access to rooms Rb10-12 which supported the stair of the Temple on the upper floor.
Other rooms and corridors are located on the north-east side of the building and were paved with mosaic.

On the side of the lower floor there is a ramp supported by arches which gives access to the Accademia Esplanade and to the upper floor of Roccabruna, where once there was a Temple which was studied and recostructed by Lugli in 1940.

It had an octagonal plan, with sixteen Doric columns, and was reached by a large staircase. To the side was a corridor Rb23 which descended to a small room Rb22 with an alcove, both paved with mosaic; nearby was a single latrine.

Corridor RB23 towards the Cubiculum

Roccabruna is an example of 'acrobatic' architecture because it has two domes one on top of the other, the blind dome of hall Rb6 in the lower floor, and on top of it, the dome with oculus of the Temple on the upper floor.
This is possible because the walls of the lower floor are more than 3 m thick, so the weight of the columns and the temple rested on them and not on the dome.
Finally, a subterranean corridor for servants started from Roccabruna and reached the Accademia and the Great Trapezium.

Function and meaning
The presence of opus sectile floors, the single latrines, the rich marble decoration and the dominant position prove that Roccabruna belonged to the imperial quarters of the Villa.

It was visible from all the surrounding countryside and therefore it was a 'signal' of the presence and power of the emperor, a bit like the Trophy of Augustus in La Turbie in France.

Roccabruna has often been considered a watchtower or an astronomical observatory, and this hypothesis has been strengthened by our Archaeoastronomy studies.

Starting from the discoveries of Robert Mangurian and Mary Ann Ray, and merging them with our studies on the Accademia, we understood that Roccabruna, Accademia and the Accademia Esplanade were astronomically oriented in such a way as to create special illuminations at sunset on the Summer Solstice, which can still be seen today. Other illuminations were visible at dawn on the winter solstice.

Therefore Roccabruna was part of a sacred landscape, the Accademia Esplanade, which was the real acropolis of the Villa, probably dedicated to the cult of Isis.
We explain this in the book Villa Adriana. Architettura Celeste. I segreti dei Solstizi.

Bibliography
Marina De Franceschini, Villa Adriana. Mosaici, pavimenti, edifici. Roma 1991, pp. 315-320 e 577-581, con bibliografia precedente

Marina De Franceschini, Giuseppe Veneziano, Villa Adriana. Architettura Celeste. I segreti dei Solstizi. 2011, pp. 111-147, con bibliografia precedente

Lugli 1940; Righi 2001; De Franceschini-Veneziano 2016; De Franceschini 2022.

©2023-24 Marina De Franceschini
www.rirella-editrice.com

e-Mail: rirella.editrice@gmail.com
VILLA ADRIANA di Marina De Franceschini

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