Hadrian's Villas, An Emperor's treat

Who doesn’t wish to have a countryside, not-so-out-of-the-city house where to escape, relax, and maybe have some friends over as soon as the big city gives us a break? Most of us do. Well, the Roman Emperor Hadrian was on our same page. He also wanted a nice getaway from Rome’s dangerous politics and chaotic life-style, so he decided to build this incredible villa just outside Rome (in Tivoli). One hundred and twenty (!!!!!) hectares of state of the art buildings, pools, spas, and gardens, some open to the public and some just for the Emperor’s privacy, where the best elements of architectural heritage from Egypt, Greece, and Rome were displayed.

Hadrian had the chance to travel around the provinces of the Empire as a commander so, once in charge of it, he decided to showcase the many art styles of the Empire in this new, huge villa.

One of the most noteworthy parts of the villa, known as Canopus, is a copy of a sanctuary located near Alexandria. It is an enormous pool surrounded by columns and decorated with figures of the caryatids.

Among the libraries, bathrooms, guest houses, gardens, fountains, and ponds stands a structure known as the Maritime Theatre, a circular pool surrounded by columns with an island in the middle. On the island there is a small Roman villa. Because why not, right!?