Hadrian's Villa

About this place

Hadrian's Villa was a monumental villa or palace complex built around AD 120 by emperor Hadrian near Tivoli, about 20 km from Rome. Its remains are now included in a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is one of the most imposing and complex Roman villas known. The complex contains over 30 monumental and scenic buildings arranged on a series of artificial esplanades at different heights and surrounded by gardens decorated with water basins and nymphaea. The whole complex covers an area of at least a square kilometre, an area larger than the city of Pompeii. In addition to the villa's impressive layout, many of the buildings are considered masterpieces of Roman architecture, making use of striking curved shapes enabled by extensive use of concrete. Notice how the building presents itself to the surrounding streets or landscape, then compare its public and more intimate spaces. This helps explain how architecture expressed the position, resources and ambitions of the people who commissioned it.