The Piazza d'Oro is one of the richest complexes of Hadrian's Villa, the residence that the emperor Hadrian had built near Tivoli, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999. The large number of holes for the clamps that held the marble facing suggests that this area was linked to the public functions of the palace.
What to see
It was a large peripteral complex: a rectangular pool ran lengthwise through the garden terrace, surrounded by a four-armed peristyle with a portico and columns of cipollino marble and Egyptian granite. Along the east and west sides run two long cryptoporticoes, and from the eastern one you enter the main building, on the short southern side: a large centrally planned octagonal structure covered by a dome.
Here the rooms have walls that are now concave, now convex, in a studied visual game: the arrangement of the mixtilinear halls allows glimpses of the semicircular nymphaeum that closes the building. Behind the portico on the north side are the remains of the so-called Farmhouse, an older structure with mosaic floors of modest quality, intended for the servants.
Visiting
The Piazza d'Oro is part of the route through Hadrian's Villa. Opening hours, tickets and open areas should be checked before visiting.
Our editors' tip
In this wing of the villa the imperial portraits of Vibia Sabina, Hadrian's wife, of Marcus Aurelius and of Caracalla were found. According to the sources, after Hadrian's death the villa remained in use as an imperial residence at least until the third century.
