The Maritime Theatre is one of the buildings of Hadrian's Villa, the imperial residence that the emperor Hadrian had built near Tivoli and which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999. The name is modern: the structure has nothing of the shape of a Roman theatre.
What to see
It is one of the earliest buildings of the villa, begun in 118 beside the Republican villa that was the first nucleus of the complex, so much so that it has been interpreted as Hadrian's very first, temporary residence on the site. Its isolation makes it plausible that this was the private part of the palace. It is a single-storey complex: nothing remains of the entrance pronaos, but the threshold of the atrium and traces of floor mosaics can be made out.
Inside, a vaulted circular portico with Ionic columns looks onto a ring-shaped canal. In the middle of the canal lies an island forty-five metres across, with its own atrium and a portico on axis with the entrance, a small garden, a minor bath complex, a few rooms and latrines. No masonry bridge linked the island to the rest of the villa: to reach it a short movable bridge had to be put out.
Visiting
The Maritime Theatre is part of the route through Hadrian's Villa. Opening hours and tickets for the archaeological site should be checked before visiting.
Our editors' tip
Next to the Maritime Theatre is the Hall of the Philosophers, the passage towards the Piazza del Pecile: meetings with the most important politicians were held there, it was faced with red marble, as the imprints of the slabs and the clamp holes show, and it had seven niches, perhaps with statues of seven philosophers or of the emperor's relatives.
