Bellissima!
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My new home
My first evening at home, back in Florence.
Ciao, Duomo! Salve, campanile!
Let the growing begin!
A new terrace…a new garden! Woo hoo!
Needing art
We have art in order not to die of the truth.
— Friedrich Nietzsche
Isola Tiberino, Roma
If you like to stroll along the banks of the Tiber River, as I do when the weather is fine, you’ll eventually encounter the small river island known as Isola Tiberino.
The Tiber Island is the only island in the southern bend of the Tiber river. The purposely boat-shaped island is approximately 270 metres (890 feet) long and 67 metres (220 feet) wide. It is and has been connected with bridges to both sides of the river since antiquity.
In antiquity, an ancient temple of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine and healing, was built on the island.
Ancient sources say there was a great plague in Rome in 293 BC and the Senate consulted the Sibyl who instructed them to build a temple to Aesculapius. The Senate sent a delegation to Epidauros to obtain a statue of the deity. As instructed, the delegation went on board a ship to sail out and obtain a statue.
They obtained a snake from a temple and put it on the ship. It immediately curled itself around the ship’s mast, which was deemed as a good sign by them. Upon their return up the Tiber river, the snake is said to have slithered off the ship and swam onto the island. They believed that this was a sign from Aesculapius, a sign which meant that he wanted his temple to be built on that island.
This location may have been chosen for the Aesculapius Temple because it was separate from the rest of the city, which could help protect whoever was there from plague and illnesses.
The island eventually became so identified with that temple, that it was modeled to resemble a ship as a reminder of how it came to be. The Romans added travertine facing by the banks to resemble a ship’s prow and stern, and erected an obelisk in the middle to symbolizing the vessel’s mast. Walls were put around the island, and it came to resemble a Roman ship. Faint vestiges of Aesculapius’ rod with an entwining snake are still visible on the “prow”.
In 998 San Bartolomeo all’Isola (with a different original name) was built over the Aesculapius temple’s ruins on the eastern side (downstream end) of the island.
The island is still considered a place of healing because a hospital, founded in 1584, was built on the island and is still operating. It is staffed by the Hospitaller Order of St. John of God or “Fatebenefratelli”. The hospital was built on the western half of the island.
Interior ceiling and apse of the Basilica di San Bartolomeo:
Today the island is a popular place to stroll on a fine day, to dine in the couple of trattorie, or to have an ice cream. African hawkers of knock-off goods line the 2 bridges, selling their wares until officials come along.
2200 year old Roman temple, Hercules Olivarius
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Oh, the places you’ll build! Hadrian’s Villa,Tivoli
Sometimes you just need some space for yourself.
Especially if you need to get away from the hustle and bustle of running an Empire. This is really important when you feel you are not appreciated by those you rule. Ungrateful is what they are.
That’s exactly the position Hadrian found himself in, so he built the modest little Villa Adriana (at Tivoli, near Rome) for himself.
Well, I understate it a bit: his villa was an exceptional complex of classical buildings created in the 2nd century A.D.. Hadrian’s villa combined the best elements of the architectural heritage of Egypt, Greece and Rome as Hadrian attempted to build himself an ‘ideal city,’ albeit in the country, as his personal retreat.
The villa was a sumptuous complex of over 30 buildings, covering an area of at least 100 hectares (c. 250 acres), maybe even 300 hectares. Although Hadrian’s Villa is a Unesco world Heritage Site, much of it remains unexcavated.
Hadrian’s choice of an imperial palace outside Rome, instead one of the several palaces in the city, was probably influenced by the miserable relations he had with the senate and the local Roman aristocracy!
Hadrian was born in Spain, just like his predecessor Trajan, and the senate and the local aristocracy had trouble coming to terms with another provincial on the imperial throne.
The way Hadrian had assumed power only reinforced their opposition to him. Trajan adopted Hadrian on his deathbed; this was immediately cast in doubt, and when four military leaders, all Roman aristocrats who had been close to Trajan and hence possible contenders for the throne, were assassinated immediately after Trajan’s death, the senate immediately suspected Hadrian of having ordered the killings.
Hadrian didn’t return to Rome until eleven months after Trajan’s death, and denied any wrongdoing, but his relationship with the senate never recovered from the crisis. As a consequence Hadrian stayed very little in Rome. He travelled extensively throughout most of the empire in two prolonged periods, in 121-125 CE and in 128-134 CE, and when in Italy he avoided Rome. You see him in the picture above with a representation of his famous wall, built wherever he felt it was needed in his Empire.
When he absolutely had to be in Rome, he had his villa in Tivoli. Located some 28 km E. of Rome, Tivoli stood on a hillside, surrounded by two minor tributaries to the Aniene. Thus Tivoli and the villa were easily reached from Rome by land via the Via Tiburtina and by boat on the Aniene, which was navigable at the time.
While I still don’t have access to my pictures from my camera, here’s what I can post until I get them.
Tivoli – Hadrian’s Villa – Pecile
In fact, to show off his tastes and inclinations, Hadrian reproduced inside this residence the places and monuments that had fascinated him during his innumerable travels.
Then there is the Canopus, a long water basin embellished with columns and statues that culminates in a temple topped by an umbrella dome.
Fiori
Caput Mundi, 7 Maggio 2017
Ancient Rome explained.
Unfortunately, I don’t think Ancient Rome/Google Earth is still online. Maybe someone can update me on this in the comments?
But, fortunately, there are other resources.
get back, lauretta! 
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