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Half Panel Dress by Walid
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| black and white mosaic floor from Villa Adriana stylised vegetation theme |
Villa Adriana or Hadrian's villa
(following text and pictures © September 2003 Jack Tsen-Ta Lee)
Villa Adriana, probably the largest and most sumptuous villa in the Roman Empire, was built by Emperor Hadrian and occupied by him for a short time between 135 CE and his death three years later. Hadrian was a great traveller and a keen architect, and parts of the villa were inspired by buildings he had seen around the world.
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| The Caserma dei vigili (Guards' Barracks). Each of the rooms had elaborate mosaic floors. |
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| The soothing pool of the Pecile, which was a reproduction of a building in Athens. |
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| The Canopo (Canopus), a copy of the sanctuary of Serapis near Alexandria in Egypt. |
Beautiful patterns and a beautiful villa there. I visited a few years ago and saw archaeologists on a dig! Looking out over Rome from Tivoli, it gave me chills because I'd seen the same afternoon sunset in paintings by George Inness and others of the 18th / early 19th century.
ReplyDeleteHadrian had the right idea by building such a grand classical palace, but I would have put a woman statue by the pool as a matter of preference. :)
Beautiful pictures on this post! Makes me want to plan another trip to Greece! M.
ReplyDeleteThat would be a magnificent place to visit.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you all liked them. Personally I was "hypnotised" by the beauty of the last picture.
ReplyDeleteLovely post. I want to go to Greece as well. The photos make me want to go yesterday!
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