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Vigna Barberini
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Italia (Pleiades)
Italia, Regio I (Pleiades)
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Roma (Pleiades)
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Palatine
Mons Palatinus (Pleiades)
Garden
Vigna Barberini Site Overview, Palatine
Keywords
Basemap | OpenStreetMap, DARE
domus
PROVINCES
palace
peristyle (Roman courtyard)
Achaea
temple (building)
Africa Proconsularis
Arabia Petraea Garden Description
Britannia The artificial terrace that now carries the Barberini family name is located on the
Italia northeastern corner of the Palatine, beyond the visible remains of the Flavian Imperial
palace (Fig. 1). Excavations carried out during the 1930s by A. Bartoli, and in the 1950s by G.F.
Judaea Carettoni concentrated primarily on the central area of this site. These campaigns revealed the
Numidia foundations of a large temple, which Bartoli identified, consistent with the earlier ideas of P.
Bigot, as the remains of the late second-century Temple of Elagabalus.
KEYWORDS Investigations by the Soprintendenza Archeologica in collaboration with École française
de Rome since 1985 have revealed further episodes of the history of the area. Approximately
aedicules (12) agriculture (1) alabastron (1) one third of the site has been explored, although the most ancient levels have been reached only
altars (religious fixtures) (5) ambulatio (1) sporadically (Fig. 2).
amphitheaters (1)
amphorae (storage vessels) (10) angiportus (3) The excavations that reached levels prior to the rise of the Empire revealed a peristyle of a
arbors (2) arcades (structural assemblies) (1) large domus once decorated with plants and basins. Probably destroyed during the 60s of the
archaeobotany (1) artificial islands (1) first century CE, this luxurious dwelling was then buried under thick layers of soil used to create
atrium houses (2) atriums (Roman halls) (23) an artificial terrace that was a grand garden of the Palace of Domitian. About a century later,
balnea (3) balustrades (1) basins (vessels) (15) during the last years of the second century, this section of the imperial palace was demolished to
biclinia (4) busts (sculpture) (1) make room for a monumental complex centered around a temple, the Elagabalium,
canals (waterways) (1) dedicated by the emperor Heliogabalus to the eastern god, Elagabalus, which was later
candelabras (candleholders) (2) cascade (1) rededicated by Severus Alexander to Jupiter Ultor.
castelli aquae (1) cauponae (10) cella (2)
charcoal (1) circuses (Roman arenas) (1) PHASES OF THE VIGNA BARBERINI SITE:
cisterns (plumbing components) (12)
colonnades (4) Garden of the Peristyle of the Julio-Claudian Domus
columns (architectural elements) (14) Garden of the Flavian Imperial Palace
courtyards (15) crocodile (1) cryptoportici (1) Garden of the Temple of Elagabalus
cubicula (domestic spaces) (2)
date palms (Phoenix dactylifera) (1) diaeta (1) Figures
doliums (9) domus (36) drains (1)
elms (Ulmus) (1) engaged columns (1)
euripus (1) exedrae (site elements) (17)
fauces (2) fences (site elements) (5)
fishponds (2) flowerpots (2) fountains (13)
frescoes (visual works) (1) funerary buildings (2)
furniture (1) garden lights (1)
garden ornaments (1) garden pavilions (1)
garden soil (1) graffiti (casual notations) (2)
gutters (building drainage components) (6)
gymnasiums (5) hearth (1) herms (2)
hippopotamus (1) horologium (1) horti (1)
horticultural containers (1) impluvia (8)
inscriptions (3) insulae (5) jet d'eau (1)
lararia (19) lattices (1) laurel (1) lecti (2)
loggias (1) lucus (grove) (1) market gardens (1)
masonry (2) mosaics (visual works) (19)
mural paintings (visual works) (5)
myrtle (Myrtus communis) (1) nemus (grove) (2)
niches (2) nymphaea (garden structures) (9)
obelisk (1) oeci (13)
olive trees (Olea europaea) (3) opus signinum (5)
Fig. 1. Aerial photograph of the Vigna Barberini taken early 1999 (©
orchards (2) palaces (1) palaestrae (3)
Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma).
parapets (1) Pausanias (4) peltae (1)
pergolas (10) peristyle houses (32)
peristyles (Roman courtyards) (44) pilasters (1)
pillars (5) pinakes (1) pines (Pinus) (1)
pipes (conduits) (2) piscinae (9)
pits (earthworks) (2)
plane trees (Platanus orientalis) (1)
planters (containers) (3) planting bed (3)
planting pots (1) pleasure garden (14)
podium (2) pollen (1)
pomegranate (Punica granatum) (1)
pomerium (1) pools (bodies of water) (9)
poplars (Populus) (1) porticoes (73) puteals (6)
reservoirs (1) rim (1) root cavities (2)
rustic (1) sacella (2) sacrarium (1)
sacred groves (4)
sanctuaries (religious building spaces) (8)
sculpture (1) semicircular basin (13)
shrines (structures) (4)
stagnum (man-made lake) (1) stairs (1)
statues (7) statuettes (6) Strabo (1)
strigillation (1) stucco (5) sundial (1)
tabernae (3) tables (support furniture) (4)
tablina (21) temples (buildings) (12)
terrace gardens (2) tesserae (1) theater (1)
thermae (1) thermopolium (1) thymiaterion (1)
tombs (1) tondi (2) trellises (4)
triclinia (couches) (1) triclinia (rooms) (41)
triplex porticus (1) triumphal arch (1) tufa (1)
ustrins (crematories) (1) vases (1) vaults (1)
vegetable gardens (2) venus (2) vestibules (2)
vineyards (1) viridarium (1) walled garden (14)
water features (landscaping) (2)
water supply systems (6) water wells (2)
wild olives (Olea oleaster) (1) woven (1)
xystis (1)
Fig. 2. Aerial photograph of the Vigna Barberini taken early 1999 (©
Soprintendenza Archeologica di Roma).
Dates
1st century BCE- 2nd century CE
Excavation Dates
1930s: A. Bartoli
1950s: G.F. Carretoni
1985-: Soprintendenza Archeologica in collaboration with École française de Rome
Bibliography
P. Bigot, “Le temple de Jupiter Ultor et la Vigna Barberini,” Bullettino della Commissione
archeologica Comunale di Roma, 1911, pp. 80-85. (worldcat)
F. Villedieu, J.-P Morel, P. Pergola, H. Broise, Y. Thébert, P. Gros, E. Hubert, et alii,
“Rome: le Palatin (Vigna Barberini),” Mélanges de l’École Française de Rome 98 (1986)
pp. 387-396; 99 (1987) pp. 481-498; 100 (1988) pp. 505-525; 101 (1989) pp. 489-498; 102
(1990) pp. 443-471; 103 (1991) pp. 313-338; 104 (1992) pp. 465-493; 105 (1993) pp. 419-
439; 106 (1994) pp. 431-450; 107 (1995) pp. 459-493; 108 (1996) pp. 423-451; 109 (1997)
pp. 417-440; 110 (1998) pp. 473-492; 111 (1999) pp. 449-481; 112 (2000) pp. 413-432.
(worldcat)
M. Royo, F. Chausson, E. Hubert, et alii, La Vigna Barberini I. Histoire d’un site. Étude
des sources et de la topographie, Rome, 1997. (worldcat)
M.A. Tomei, “La ex Vigna Barberini e le aree limitrofe: documentazione dall’archivio della
Soprintendenza archeologica” La Vigna Barberini I, op. cit, pp. 191-210. (worldcat)
C. Virlouvet, F. Villedieu, et alii, “Fouilles de l’École française de Rome sur le site de la
Vigna Barberini (Palatin),” Bollettino di Archeologia 23-24 (1993), pp. 131-164.
(worldcat)
F. Villedieu, “La Vigna Barberini (Palatino): nuove acquisizioni,” Archeologia Laziale XII,
Quaderni di Archeologia Etrusco-italica, 1995, pp. 33-39. (worldcat)
F. Villedieu, “Constructions impériales mises au jour à l’angle N-E du Palatin. Résultats
des fouilles de l’École française de Rome sur le site de la Vigna Barberini,” Comptes
Rendus de l’Académie des Inscriptions & Belles-Lettres, 1995, pp. 719-736.(worldcat)
J.-P. Morel, “Stratigraphie et histoire sur le Palatin : la zone centrale de la Vigna
Barberini,” Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Inscriptions & Belles-Lettres, 1996, pp.
173-205. (worldcat)
F. Villedieu, P. Veltri, “Les soutènements nord-ouest et nord de la terrasse de la Vigna
Barberini (Rome, Palatin): constructions et remaniements de l’époque flavienne à
l’époque sévérienne,” Mélanges de l’École Française de Rome, 111 (1999), pp. 749-778.
(worldcat)
F. Villedieu , et alii, Il giardino dei Cesari. Exhibition catalogue (Rome, Museo Nazionale
Romano, Terme di Diocleziano, Oct. 2001- Jan. 2002), Rome, 2001. (worldcat)
Pleiades ID
971691208
Contributor
Françoise Villedieu
Publication date
17 April 2021
DOMUS PALACES PERISTYLES (ROMAN COURTYARDS)
TEMPLES (BUILDINGS)
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