Hadrian's Villa

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From the brick-stamps recovered from the ruins of the Villa, the buildings were constructed in two major phases:HadVilPhCanopus-1-26.jpg

* AD118-, AD-134

For much of this time Hadrian was , travelling or residing in . He returned to Rome in 125 and appears to have laid plans for extensions to his Villa at that time, before setting off on his second voyage in 128.

Parts of the complex were named after well-known buildings and places the emperor had visited on his journeys around the empire:

In Rome too, the age of Hadrian was a time of intense building (, Temple of Venus and Rome, the Mausoleum etc.) His villa is extensive and covers approx 120 hectares.

Hadrian died in A.D. 138 at the age of 62, appointing Antoninus Pius as his successor.

* the is named after the Stoa Poikile ('Painted Porch') in
* the A ( is named after a district of )
* both areas in Athens were associated with
* the Vale of a valley to the north of the villa,(recalls the area in Thessaly in northern

Temple of Venus

Above- the ruins of a small round 'Temple of Venus' recalls the area 'Vale of '.


* the (pictured at the top of this page) gained its name from an island in the Nile in that was famous for its sanctuary of the Underworld god,

Other parts of the Villa are more fantastically named:
* long underground passages near the Academy were called after the Underworld

Other parts have gained modern, and sometimes misleading, titles:
* the was a circular island, surrounded by a moat and entered across a drawbridge, that served as a private retreat
* the ('Golden Court') is so-called simply because of the wealth of finds discovered there