©MarinaDeFranceschini - Progetto Accademia
6 – TEMPE PAVILION
Description
At the southern end of the Terrace of Tempe is the Tempe Pavilion [PHOTO], a tower-shaped building with three floors connecting three different levels.
The first floor - corresponding to the lowest level - is on the same level as the Ninfeo Fede (81 m).
It has a vast and very imposing substructure, called Stallone (large Stable), which did not communicate with the other floors [Pianta ex mari]; it has never been opened to the public and was used as a warehouse for years.
Its walls were entirely covered with "tartars" (false stalactites) and rock fragments, which partly are still in place, so as to simulate a grotto [Photo Tartars inside],
According to Sebastiani, a statue of Heracles (lost) was found there, which alludes to the underworld of the afterlife and also to the nearby sanctuary of Hercules Victor in Tivoli.
Inner view of the "Stallone" with the tartari revetment
Several meters before the entrance to the Stallone a ramp [PHOTO ramp] and a staircase (of which a few remains are hidden by the vegetation) go up to the second floor (intermediate level). Here is the Tempe Pavilion, from which one could admire the view of the landscape below.
It is at the same level as the nearby Imperial Triclinium (92.5 m), about ten meters higher than the Terrace of Tempe.
Room TP3 was the arrival point of the ramp that came up from the Terrace of Tempe and the Fede Nymphaeum. TP8 was a panoramic room overlooking the panorama.
The inner corridor TP5 gave access to two small single latrines TP6-7. The inner staircase TP4 [PHOTO staircase and floor] goes up to the third floor (upper level) of the Pavilion.
The rooms of the upper level are completely razed to the ground, and opened towards the Terrace of Piazza d'Oro (Golden Square) [n. 7], at the southern end of which was the secondary entrance to Piazza d'Oro (n. 15= [n. 8]).
The lower floor of the building is closed and not accessible, as is the ramp that goes up to the second floor.
The middle and upper floors are open to the public but can be reached only from the Imperial Triclinium, on the other side of the Villa.
Opus sectile pavement
Function and meaning
The monumental Pavilion of Tempe is one of the many check points and patrolled accesses of the Area of Piazza d'Oro, along the route that started from the Fede Nymphaeum [n. 4] reached Piazza d'Oro.
The building has opus sectile pavements, and belonged to the imperial quarters, as proved by the single latrines.
The precious decoration, luxury and monumentality are a sign of the power and wealth of the emperor.
The substructure, the so-called Stallone, was transformed into a spectacular fake grotto revetted with pumice and tartars, probably dedicated to Heracles.
The second floor was a panoramic pavilion overlooking the panorama of the Tempe Valley.
It was separate from the nearby Imperial Triclinium, which had simple black and white mosaics, and belonged to the secondary quarters (see MDF on Hierarchy of Pavements).
For this reason, although they are close together, the two buildings belonged to two different categories.
SEE: Marina De Franceschini, Villa Adriana. Mosaici, pavimenti, edifici, 1991, Padiglione di Tempe, pp. 143.146 and 453-459.