Tuesday 3 December at 6.30pm, online
Our usual appointment with the virtual tour by the Grand Tour platform is back. The tour will have as its theme ‘La Villa dei Quintili’ with Mario Bernardi.
The Villa of the Quintilii is a villa beyond the fifth milestone along the Via Appia Antica, the Ancient Appian Way, a few miles outside of the Rome Walls. It was built by the rich and cultured brothers Sextus Quintilius Valerius Maximus and Sextus Quintilius Condianus, which were consuls in 151 AD.
The ruins of this villa suburbana are of such an extent that when they were first excavated, the site was called Roma Vecchia (“Old Rome“) by the locals, as they occupied a vast area of the Roma countryside, like it was it’s own town. The nucleus of the villa was constructed in the time of Emperor Hadrian.
The villa included extensive thermae fed by its own aqueduct, and, what was even more unusual, a hippodrome, which dates to the fourth century when the villa was Imperial property: the emperor Commodus coveted the villa strongly enough to put to death its owners in 182 and confiscate it for himself, but was not a wise move….
We will discover the fascinating stories of the Villa as well as the majestic ruins in this virtual guided tour!
Reservation required at this link, limited places.