St. THEODORE

S. TEODORO
Via di S. Teodoro 7

Sixth century
Reconstructed 1454 maybe by Bernardo Rossellino (1409/64) for Nicholas V Parentucelli (1447/55)

SMALL SQUARE AND STAIRS
1703/05 Carlo Fontana (1634/1714)
It is dedicated to the martyr Theodore, a Roman Legionary, killed in Turkey being beaten with rods, tormented with steel combs and then burned alive, fully deserving the title of Megalomartyr
In the 1500s here was kept the Bronze She-Wolf of the Capitoline Hill
The Titulus S. Theodori was reestablished on December 2, 1959 by Giovanni XXIII Roncalli (1958/63)

Giovanni Paolo II (1978/2005) granted the use of the Church to the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople and to the Greek Orthodox community in Rome, from July 1, 2004, to the presence of Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople

RIGHT ALTAR
“S. Crescentino” by Giuseppe Ghezzi (1634/1721)

APSE
Mosaic “Redeemer among the Sts. Peter, Paul, Theodore and another Saint (S. Cleonico?)” VI century

St. ANASTASIA

S. ANASTASIA

Piazza di S. Anastasia

Built in the fourth century as the official place of worship for the imperial dignitaries of Palatine Hill

It was dedicated to St. Anastasia martyred in the year 253 but it was probably originally dedicated to the worship of the Anástasis, the resurrection

After the torture Anastasia's breasts were cut, her nails torn, her teeth broken, her hands and feet cut off. She finally died only by decapitation

It was restored in the eighth and ninth century and the end of 1400s for Pope Sixtus IV Della Rovere (1471/84)

Final restructuring with a new FAÇADE in 1636 by Luigi Arrigucci (1575/after 1643) for Urban VIII Barberini (1623/44) after a tornado had destroyed the previous façade in 1634

Interior decorated in the years 1721/22 by the Maltese Carlo Gimach (1651/1730)

This was the first church ever where the practice of the perpetual Eucharistic adoration began in 2001, a practice now spread throughout the world

CEILING

“Martyrdom of St. Anastasia” 1722 by the Roman Michelangelo Cerruti (1663/1748)

CHAPEL IN THE RIGHT NAVE

Above the altar “St. John the Baptist” by Pier Francesco Mola (1612/66)

CHAPEL AT THE END OF THE RIGHT NAVE

“Stories of St. Charles Borromeo” and “Stories of S. Filippo Neri” by Lazzaro Baldi (about 1624/1703)

Incredible reliquary with relics of thirty-four saints and blessed, including the Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

RIGHT TRANSEPT

Above the altar “S. Toribio” 1726 by Francesco Trevisani (1656/1746)

ALTAR

“Nativity” and other paintings by Lazzaro Baldi

“Renouncing to the throbbing vitality and dynamism of his master Pietro da Cortona, he acquired Venetian solutions inspired by Pierfrancesco Mola and revived by Gaulli, he also acquired the expressive taste for darkness of Giacinto Brandi or he yielded toward formal balance, showing sensitivity to the calibrated compositional layout of Carlo Maratta, more befitting his measured mood” (Antonella Pampalone)

Under the altar statue of “St. Anastasia” by Francesco Aprile (?/1685) completed in 1667 by Ercole Ferrata (1610/86)

LEFT TRANSEPT

“Tomb of Cardinal Angelo Mai” in 1857 by Giovanni Maria Benzoni (1799/1873)

Altar painting “Madonna of the Rosary” by Lazzaro Baldi under which a medieval fresco was found

CHAPEL AT THE END OF THE LEFT NAVE

“St. Jerome” maybe by Domenico Zampieri aka Domenichino (1581/1641)

In the lunette “Martyrdom of St. Anastasia” by an anonymous seventeenth-century artist

CHAPEL ON THE LEFT

“Sts. George and Publius” by Etienne Parrocel (1696/1774)

Attached to the church MONASTERY OF THE OLIVETANI FATHERS with the façade of the second half of 1600s on Via dei Cerchi facing the Circus Maximus

PALATINE BRIDGE

PONTE PALATINO

Via Lungarina/Piazza Bocca della Verità 

1886/90 Angelo Vescovali (1826/95)

Measuring 155 m (508.5 feet), it is the longest bridge in Rome

In order to build it two arches of the Ponte Rotto (Broken Bridge) were torn down

It is also known as the English Bridge for the traffic on the left

Many accidents have occurred on the bridge, some of them fatal, so as to give it the reputation of cursed bridge

Near the end of the right is the outlet of the CLOACA MAXIMA the ancient sewer coming from the area of ​the Forum of Nerva dating back to the sixth century BC

Originally the pipe ran in the open. Between the second and first century BC a vault in tuff stone was built in, buried in various points in restorations with concrete or brickwork

PALATINE HILL - PALATINE HILL MUSEUM (second part)

ROOM VIII
More imperial portraits

Interesting portrait of “Marcus Aurelius (161/180)” young and beardless, dating back to about 147

“Julia Domna” Syrian wife of Septimius Severus (193/211) who was a native of Libya

“Maximinus Thrax (235/238)” the so-called “Emperor soldier”

He was born in today's Bulgaria and was a shepherd who had made a career in the army. He was huge and the Historia Augusta (document probably dating from the early fifth century AD with biographies of the emperors) reports that he was incredibly 2.40 m (9 feet) tall

He was the first emperor who never went to Rome during his reign

“Balbino (238)” was emperor for three months together with Pupienus with whom he quarreled bitterly. During the quarrel were both killed by the praetorians who proclaimed emperor the thirteen-years-old Gordian III

“Bust of Merman” late second century AD with his mouth open to let water flow out. It was in fact used as a fountain in the Septizonium

“Bas-relief of a woman with two birds in one hand and a cane in the other” early fourth century AD maybe a personification of winter

“Graffiti with donkey man crucified” from the Pedagogium with the inscription in Greek: “Alexamenos worships his god” first half of the third century AD

It is probably a very early mockery of the Christian religion

ROOM IX

The sculptural decoration of the Palace. Greek originals and Roman copies of the Classical and Hellenistic periods

“Acroterial headless statue of Aura” with peplum open on the side. Maybe Greek original of the fifth century BC from near the Arch of Titus

An acroterial statue is a statue placed as a decoration on the roof of a temple

“Fragment of a relief with Leda and the Swan”

“Child seated”

“Headless statue of Aphrodite or Kharis” from the original by Kallimacos with beautiful light drapery that enhances the sensual posing of the goddess

“Statuette of a satyr looking at his tail”

“Dionysus as a child”. It was originally placed in the arms of Hermes

“Head of Aphrodite”

“Fragmented face of Westmacott's Ephebe”

“Statuette of Diomedes carrying the Palladium”

“Torso of Artemis”

“Head of Aphrodite of Cnidus” and “Head of Apollo Sauroctonos” from the original by Praxiteles (about 395/326 BC)

“His ideal is the Charis, who is beauty combined with grace. He does not move in the sphere of the solemn Olympian deities as Phidias and the artists of the fifth century, but he chooses only a few semi-divine beings or gods, and represents them with an all human beauty in a tone already delicately sensual and romantic. For his particular poetic content he creates rhythms that free figures from the equilibrium gravitating around their axis which was the central problem of the art of the fifth century and which had been formulated in more complex and organic way by Polykleitos. Praxiteles' rhythms are either leaning on a lateral support, giving a new curve to the figure, or either, when support is lacking, the body bends in its own soft gravity, it is released in an inert abandonment, or bends in a simple pose, often with its head bowed, always avoiding the static and vertical line” (Enciclopedia Treccani)

“Headless statue of a girl dancing”

“Two muses sitting”

“Fragmentary head of Doryphoros” from original by Polykleitos of Argos (about 490/425 BC)

“Head of Asclepius”

“Two heads of Apollo” of the Anzio type

“Veiled head of Venus Sosandra” or savior of mankind, from an original of about 460 BC by Calamis

It was his most famous work and it was placed on the Acropolis of Athens

“Figure solemn and quiet, which expresses an ideal of femininity in the process of affirmation. We are far beyond the ancient climate: there is obviously some psychological research, the desire to penetrate in the privacy of individuals” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

“Hera Borghese” second century AD from an original of the end of the fifth century BC

“An original of the last quarter of the fifth century BC takes to the extreme the drapery of the Parthenon with a bold play of folds. It is a statue of a goddess found in secondary arrangement in the agora of Athens and reconstructed from several fragments. The work recalls the so-called type of the Hera Borghese, known only through replicas of Roman age. These types of statues, created especially to depict Aphrodite, introduce a new vision of the deity - more feminine and sensual, different from the idealized humanity of the goddesses of the Parthenon - which will lead, in the following century, to the naked Aphrodite by Praxiteles, the famous Aphrodite of Cnidus” (Marina Castoldi)

“Heads of Trojan princes and dying barbarians”

Statue of “Magna Mater sitting” in Pentelic marble, originally located in the Temple of Magna Mater

“Head of Hygeia” Augustan copy of a late-classical work

PALATINE HILL - PALATINE HILL MUSEUM (first part)

MUSEO PALATINO

Part of the Museo Nazionale Romano which is made out of five different museums in five different locations. The other four are Palazzo Massimo, Palazzo Altemps, Museo delle Terme and Crypta Balbi

 

Ground Floor - Palatine Hill from Origins to the Republican Period

ROOM I

The prehistory of the hill (from 100,000 years ago to the end of the second millennium BC). From the Middle Paleolithic to the Bronze Age with stable settlements from 1200 BC

ROOMS II - III

The early history of the hill (X/VII century BC), huts of the Iron Age and burials

Models of the significant settlement of huts on the Palatine Hill in the ninth century BC

ROOM IV

The Archaic and Republican period (VI/I century BC). Cultural complexes and private houses

“Antefix polychrome with head of woman”

“Bearded head in polychrome pottery”

“Fragment of terracotta head maybe of Dionysus”

 

First Floor - Palatine Hill in the Imperial Period

ROOM V

Augustan Age (27 BC/14). The sanctuary of Apollo of Actium and decorative theme in celebration of the Principality

“Fragments of head and one foot of the colossal statue of Apollo” by Skopas

“Fragment of the Face of Late Archaic statue of Athena”

“Fragment of the Palatine Palladium” original Greek of the sixth century BC

The Palladium was a statue that, according to the beliefs of antiquity, was capable of defending an entire city. The most famous was kept at Troy, and in fact the city was destroyed when Ulysses and Diomedes succeeded in stealing it

According to Virgil, Ulysses and Diomedes did not steal the Palladium, but it was Aeneas who brought it with him to Italy and there it stayed only to be eventually kept in the Temple of Vesta

“Three herms of canephorae in black ancient marble” from the porch of the Temple of Apollo

The canephorae were maidens who carried sacred objects of worship in baskets held deftly balanced on their heads

“Campana Slab” 36/28 BC architectural terracottas from the Temple of Apollo

Their name recalls that of the Marquis Giampietro Campana who, in the first half of 1800s, had gathered a rich collection of these particular kind of terracottas

“Fragments of frescoes” from the House of Augustus, one with “Apollo Citaredo”

ROOM VI

Age of Nero (54/68) - The Domus Transitoria (temporary house) and new decorative conception

“Inlaid marble panels” in opus sectile from the Domus Transitoria

Opus sectile is one of the more refined and prestigious techniques of marble ornamentation, both for the marbles used often very valuable and for implementation difficulties

Marble is cut into very thin sheets known as crustae and shaped with great precision, using the most different qualities of marble to obtain the desired color effects

Painted decorations with “Trojan Cycle of Ulysses” from the Domus Transitoria

ROOM VII

From the Julio-Claudian emperors to the Tetrarchy (284/312). Official portraiture and decoration of the Palace

“Two heads of Nero (54/68)”

“In the portraits of Nero, best known from coins emissions, it seems possible to distinguish three stylistically different periods due to his different political behavior. In the portrait of the Palatine, chronologically be placed in the middle years of the reign, the realism of some facial features is tempered by the apparent softness of the marble, the search for effects of light and pathos. This style heralds the stage of absolute rule of the emperor in which we witness, at the level of artistic language, the final affirmation of the Baroque and pictorial trend of the Hellenistic tradition, already in embryo in the figurative culture of Claudius” (Simona Fortunelli)

“Two pieces of the floor in opus sectile (inlaid marble)” of the Neronian period from the Domus Tiberiana

“Bust of Antoninus Pius (138/161)”

“He ruled with wisdom and righteousness, animated by paternal solicitude for the welfare of all. He eased the tax system, he was generous with donations, he founded charities, including one in favor of orphan girls. Respectful of official religion, however, he was not too intransigent toward Christians and Jews. To his wife Faustina he erected a temple on the Via Sacra. Under his reign raids by Mauri in Africa and Brigantes in Britain were easily tackled: here it was established the famous 'Antonine Wall'“ (Enciclopedia Treccani)

“Two heads of vestal virgins from a relief”

Beautiful “Head of a Young Princess” of the Antonine period

PALATINE HILL - DOMUS TIBERIANA

Domus Tiberiana

The first truly unified palace built by an emperor is maybe that of Tiberius (14/37)

The area was covered in the sixteenth century by the Farnese Gardens. It is largely uncharted

Perhaps Tiberius built it over his birthplace. It included a library

It was probably the seat of the designated successor of the emperor when he was still alive, as Tiberius was the successor of Augustus

We know with certainty that Marcus Aurelius (161/180) and Lucius Verus (161/169) lived here when they were adopted and designated as successors of Antoninus Pius (138/161)

It was used as a residence by Pope John VII (705/707)

PALATINE HILL - NORTHERN SIDE

TEMPLE OF THE SUN

Foundations of a temple (60 x 40 m - 197 x 131 feet) of uncertain identification, but by many considered the Temple of the Sun, built by Emperor Elagabalus (218/222)

It must have been originally surrounded by an area with portico

Inside the temple Elagabalus were kept many sacred objects including the Palladium of Troy, the aniconic image of Cybele, the fire of Vesta and the ancilla or shields of Mars preserved in the Regia

Recent excavations have revealed the nature of garden of the area, perhaps the “Gardens of Adonis”. The building stood until the late empire as evidenced by mentions of various ancient authors

Recently, in the northeast corner structures have been excavated belonging to Nero's Domus Aurea, most likely including the famous ROUND ROOM WITH ROTATING FLOOR described by Suetonius

PENTAPYLUM

Maybe remains of the monumental entrance with five arches that used to give access to the colonnade of the Temple of the Sun

ARCH

Square area paved with stones and ruins of an arch of the imperial period

It was perhaps the monumental entrance to the Imperial Palace

BASE MAYBE OF A TEMPLE

NERONIAN CRYPTOPORTICUS

Semi-underground corridor 130 m (427 feet) long, illuminated by narrow windows, which united the Domus Aurea with the imperial palace

The attribution to Nero (54/68) is arbitrary

In the stretch leading to the house of Livia, is visible on the vault a copy of a stucco decoration with geometric panels surrounded by cupids and floral motifs. The original is in the Palatine Museum

ATRIUM GAI

Structures built by Domitian (81/96) on the remains of the House of Caligula (37/41) or Atrium Gai, where in the sixth century the church of S. Maria Antiqua was built

SO-CALLED “CLIVUS VICTORIA”

SHOPS

SO-CALLED “CLIVUS PALATINO” that maybe was the Vicus Apollinis

HOUSE OF MARCUS EMILIUS SCAURUS (see Roman Forum)

PORTICUS MARGARITARIA

Remains of brick walls parallel and perpendicular to the axis of the Sacred Way identified by Rodolfo Lanciani as a large porch that was built around rows of stone pillars and was given the name Porticus Margaritaria according to the Chronograph of 354 AD (an illustrated calendar) that mentions it among the buildings located in the Forum

The structure with portico was actually begun by Nero (54/68) shortly before the fire of 64

After the fire the construction of a grand portico with pillars began

It should have been used as access to the Domus Aurea, but it was never finished: after the death of Nero, the Flavian emperors stopped the work and the completed part was destined for public and commercial use until the late empire

SACRED WAY

Ancient road that connected the Palatine, the Forum and the Capitoline Hill

It owed its name to the functions and ceremonial processions that used to follow this road

According to ancient tradition, the sanctity of the street derives from the legendary pact of peace between Romulus and Titus Tatius, or from the fact that priests walked on it monthly during the sacred ceremonies of the Ides and Nonae

Until the beginning of the imperial age it would have had a first flat section from the Roman Forum, namely the Comitium, up the slopes of the Velia, more or less where the Basilica of Maxentius is, passing next to the Basilica Emilia

A second section uphill (summa Sacra Via) would have reached the Shrine of the Strenia Carinae, passing through the Velia

After the fire in 64 AD the second section was modified and brought to the atrium of the Domus Aurea, where later the Temple of Venus and Rome was built

One can categorically exclude that the Via Sacra is the one that passes under the Arch of Titus

FOUNDATIONS OF NERO’S PERIOD

Maybe part of the basement of the porch that surrounded the entrance hall of the Domus Aurea, the Golden House of Nero (54/68)

ARCH OF TITUS (see Roman Forum)

BASE

Rectangular base east of the Arch of Titus in flakes of flint, which were attached to some blocks of travertine and lava stone. Its function is unknown

Before the recent excavations, it was believed that it was the base of the Temple of Jupiter Stator, consecrated by Romulus in the Roman-Sabine war

In the Middle ages over the remains of the basement the Turris Chartularia was built, which owed its name to its supposed proximity to the imperial Chartularium (archive), later used as an archive of the popes

SACRARIUM OF AUGUSTUS

Next to the Sacred Way there are the remains of a complex that was perhaps used as baths and has been identified by some as the Baths of Elagabalus, by others as the Curiae Veteres, a temple that the written tradition attributed to Romulus, and that Tacitus mentions as the third corner of the pomerium (border) of the Palatine city

It is more probable that it is the Sacrarium of Augustus erected in the place where the emperor was born

The area is still being excavated, but a room with apse and fountains is visible, probably intended to use as baths but later used as a place of worship

PALATINE HILL - St. SEBASTIAN

S. Sebastiano

Known in the Middle Ages as S. Maria in Pallara from the Palladium of Troy, which was in the Temple of the Sun

The Palladium was a statue which, according to ancient beliefs, was able to defend an entire city

Rebuilt 1624/30 for Urban VIII Barberini (1623/44) by Luigi Arrigucci (1575/after 1643) retaining the original apse of the tenth century with traces of frescoes

COUNTER FAÇADE

Watercolors nineteenth-century copies of those of the seventeenth century, which were themselves copies of the destroyed medieval frescoes

Paintings in the PRESBYTERY and in the SPANDRELS

“God the Father and angels”, “Virtues”and “St. Sebastian” 1633/36 by Bernardino Gagliardi (1609/1660)

BEHIND THE MAIN ALTAR

Traces of “Frescoes with scenes of Christ” dating back to the end of the tenth century

ALTARPIECE ON THE LEFT WALL

“Martyrdom of St. Sebastian” 1633 by Andrea Camassei (1602/49) with the episode of the whipping that actually killed St. Sebastian and is rarely represented

The arrows with which he had previously been wounded in fact had not killed him

PALATINE HILL - St. BONAVENTURE

S. Bonaventura

1675/77 for Cardinal Francesco Barberini on a huge castellum aquae (building with the function of collection and distribution of water) that was intended to supply the Severan Baths

The cardinal supported the reformist Franciscan friar Bonaventure of Barcelona, later canonized, who wanted to build the church here

Today the convent adjacent to the church is the seat of the Centre for Youth Ministry in the Roman Province of the Franciscan Minor Friars

FAÇADE and INTERIOR redone in the years 1839/40

COUNTER FAÇADE

“Tombstone of the painter Francesco Mancini (1679/1758)” 1758 with his portrait

1^st ALTAR ON THE RIGHT

“Crucifixion with the Madonna, St. John the Evangelist and Mary Magdalene” about 1678 by G.B. Beinaschi (1638/88)

2^nd ALTAR ON THE RIGHT

“Madonna and Child, St. Anne, St. Joseph and Spanish Franciscan saints” 1680 by Giacinto Calandrucci (1646/1707) a pupil of Carlo Maratta

MAIN ALTAR

“Virgin Mary and the three Franciscan Orders” about 1685 by Filippo Micheli from Camerino

Beneath the altar there is the tomb of S. Leonardo da Porto Maurizio, who died in 1751 in a nearby convent and gave great impetus to the devotion of the Christian martyrs of the Colosseum and to the Via Crucis (Stations of the Cross) which was very popular since then

He was one of the greatest inventors and propagators of the Stations of the Cross personally creating some hundreds of them. He built the aediculae outside the church, in clay since 1772, and in the Colosseum, later removed

AT THE SIDES OF THE ALTAR

Niches on the right “St. Anthony of Padua” 1867 and on the left “St. Francis”1869 Pietro da Copenaghen

2^nd ALTAR ON THE LEFT

“Annunciation” about 1678 by G.B. Beinaschi

1^st ALTAR ON THE LEFT

“St. Michael the Archangel” about 1678 by G.B. Beinaschi who was assisted in the four paintings in this church by his daughter Angela Maria Beinaschi

SACRISTY

“Deposition” about 1678 by G.B. Beinaschi signed also by his daughter Angela Maria

“Virgin Mary with Sts. Francis and Anthony of Padua” 1862 by Pietro da Copenaghen

CONVENT

“Our Lady of Beautiful Love” by Sebastiano Conca (1680/1764)

“St. Anthony” by Luigi Garzi (1638/1721)

“Virgin Mary and St. Bonaventure” by Pietro Gagliardi (1809/90)

“Lady of the Sacred Heart Jesus” 1766 by Pompeo Batoni (1708/87) donated by the painter to the missionary priest of the convent to take with him on his missions

PALATINE HILL - AREA OF THE HOUSE OF AUGUSTUS (second part)

“AUGURATORIUM”
Shrine with simple plan and only two rooms with parts in opus reticulatum (reticulated work) of the Augustan period (27 BC/14), but almost entirely rebuilt in concrete covered with bricks by Hadrian (117/138)

Some scholars have mistakenly identified it with the Auguratorium, the place where the priests known as Auguri, in charge of forecasting the future, used to take the so called auspices before a major event, observing the flight of birds facing southeast

Instead, it is probably the SACELLO DI VICTORIA VIRGO (Shrine of Victoria Virgo) built in 193 BC by Marcus Cato Porcio next to the Temple of Victory

In the foundations an earlier archaic shrine was found, made out of big square blocks of “cappellaccio” stone, covered by a late-Republican concrete construction, probably corresponding to the ancient Sacello di Iuno Sospita (Shrine of Juno Sospita)

ROOMS BUILT IN CONCRETE AND BRICKS

Eighteen rooms in concrete covered with bricks dating around the age of Nero (54/68)

On the VAULTS there are remains of fresco paintings, unfortunately very damaged, dated around the third century AD

The numerous graffiti led to suppose that it was a sort of service areas, perhaps intended for guards

Here was found the beautiful statue of Charis now in the Palatine Museum

CISTERNS

Next to the House of Livia there are two circular tanks close together dating back to the archaic period

“LIVIA'S HOUSE”

House attributed to Livia, wife of Augustus, after the discovery of some lead pipes with the inscription Iulia Augusta

It was excavated in 1869 by Pietro Rosa for Napoleon III

The house is datable to the first century BC, but at least two different phases of construction have been recognized: 75/50 BC for the walls in opus reticulatum (concrete covered with bricks) and about 30 BC for the paintings

All rooms have remains of mosaic floors in simple black and white colors

The access to the dwelling, located at a lower level compared to the surrounding buildings, is down a HALLWAY with a black and white mosaic floor, which leads to a room known as ATRIUM with two pillars supporting the roof

It is more likely, however, that the true atrium was the so-called ROOM H where there are maybe elements of the impluvium (rectangular flat-bottomed tank to collect rainwater) surrounded by cubiculi (small bedrooms)

On the end side there are THREE ROOMS of which the central one is larger than the lateral ones, while on the right end side of the atrium there is maybe a triclinium with a fresco of landscape and an imageless symbol (betilo) of Diana

The TABLINUM in the center is the most important room from the pictorial point of view, even if the frescoes have faded, and it is difficult to clearly see the images

These paintings have been classified as belonging to an advanced stage of the second Pompeian style

The wall on the right is divided into three by a portico with Corinthian columns resting on high bases

The central aedicula depicts “Io, beloved by Jupiter, freed by Mercury from Argo's captivity”, a copy of a famous painting by Nikias. The girl sits at the foot of a column supporting a statue, while there are Argo on the right and Mercury on the left

On the wall on the left “Open window overlooking a busy city with various street scenes”

In the central panel of the wall “Nymph Galatea of the sea horse as she fled from Polyphemus”

In the HALL TO THE RIGHT OF THE TABLINUM still stands out the wall decoration on the left, in square panels, with festoons of leaves, flowers and fruits from which rural symbols hang

In the upper part there is a beautiful frieze on a yellow background, faded now, with “Scenes of Egyptian Life”

In the HALL TO THE LEFT OF THE TABLINUM walls are decorated with a system similar to the one of the other two rooms, with columns and pilasters on a lower part of fake marble, without any scene representing figures

BASIN

Great elliptical basin with internal steps. It is assumed that it was used as a vivarium or breeding ground for fish