Hadrian’s Villa, Italy 2018 🇮🇹 – Michael and Pam's Travels

Date: 3rd September 2018

Travelled: 172 kilometres from Subiaco to Sutri, both in the province of Lazio, Italy.

Visited: Hadrian’s Villa €10pp + audio guide €5pp, Tivoli.

Stayed: Sutri municipal car-park, free. No services. N42.24117, E12.22893

Budget: 93 days @ €95 per day.

We wake after a peaceful evening on the mountain outside the Monastery of San Benedetto. Mind you a thunder storm circled a couple of times but nothing eventuated.

The weather has changed, the summer heat is still there during the day, but the evenings cool quickly and Pam calls for the wooly most mornings about 5am. It’s been a long hot summer in Europe. Hopefully chasing campsites or sosta with electricity for the air-conditioner has passed for 2018.

So we have our coffee and some fruit and roll down the hill to Subiaco and on to the A24 motorway for Tivoli.

Villa Adriana, Lazio, Italy

The Italian’s call it Villa Andriana, built by Emperor Hadrian as his summer residence. Most guide books refer to it as Hadrian’s Villa. Hadrian is the roman emperor who built walls across Briton, created great viaducts in Espana, Rome and the provinces. He built grand theatres across the empire all the way to central Turkey. We really like Hadrian. So it’s Hadrian’s Villa or town but to be more accurate it’s more a mini city.

Once we turn off the motorway we got lucky and our GPS found a secret short cut to the Villa.

Soon the narrow street gives way to a narrow lane.

We arrive at the Villa, find a parking spot in the shade have some toast and coffee. We buy our tickets and go to the first exhibit, a model of the site. As I said it’s a huge site.

The first thing that strikes us is the size and scope of ruins. Hadrian ordered the construction of his summer residence in 118AD it took some 26 years to complete.

The Pecile, originally bordered by arched porticoes, now a home for turtles. 130m x 40m and still holds water.

Just one of several domed bath houses or thermes.

The amazing Theatre Maritime, Hadrian’s private retreat.

Michael and Pam's Photo Sphere (Theatre Maritime Pano)

The Quadriporch, where high ranking visitors were received and entertained.

The Canopo, Hadrian loved his water features. Apparently based on the Santuary of Serapis in Egypt (but bigger).

Another view of the Canopo, gives some scale to the size of this pool.

It’s been an amazing couple of hours wandering Hadrian’s Villa. By 2pm it’s hot, most tourists have gone on in their buses for lunch or a nap. So we say goodbye as well and return to the Hymer.

Tivoli is as close to Rome as we intend to visit this year, we have been lucky enough to visit Rome twice before. So back on the motorway it is. We skirt Rome on the GAR, Rome’s ringroad, taking the SS2 exit. The quality of the road decreases every kilometre further from Rome we drive. North-west of Rome there are three great lakes, we head for Lake Bracciane to have a look. Whilst the lake is beautiful the only place open is a very ordinary campsite and they want €25 so we continue on to Sutri and a free car-park.

Sutri, Lazio, Italy

So we settle in for the night, hoping the bus doesn’t head off somewhere at 3am. It didn’t.

Sutri isn’t on the tourist trail, but looks well worth a walk in the morning…

Michael and Pam

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