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Parco archeologico del Colosseo - Casa di Livia

Roma

Casa di Livia The building known as  “House of Livia” is located in the south-western region of the Palatine hill. It dates back to the first half of the 1st century b.C., and it was one of the many rich on houses built on that hill in republican times. Around the year 30 b. C. the house underwent major restoration works and was decorated with the marvellous frescoes which are still visible.The part of the building for public use is composed of a large atrium with access to three large parallel rooms, a room for guests (tablinum), flanked by two smaller rooms, and a dining room (triclinium) on one side. The decoration of the floor is rather simple, with motifs made of black tesserae on a black background. The walls are instead decorated by paintings of striking beauty, especially in the tablinum: here on a low podium over which columns sustain a lacunar ceiling, we can admire imaginary views. Among the mythological scenes represented in the paintings we recognise Polyphemus and Galatea, and the nymph Io guarded by Argus, which may well be a copy of the Hellenistic painter Nikias. On both sides of the central pictures the view opens on imaginary landscapes and fantastic architectures, with sphinxes, winged figures and branched candlesticks.In the room on the right side of the tablinum the decoration is simpler, but equally suggestive. It is displayed around a porch:  between the columns we see vegetal festoons decorated with bands and objects for worship. Above runs a peculiar monochrome freeze, with representations of real life which alternate with ritual scenes in an Egyptian setting (we recognize camels, sphinxes, and a statue of Isis). The scenes are treated in an “impressionistic” style, with a few quick brush strokes. In the room on the left we see instead fantastic figures (gryphs, winged Victories) facing each other by side of branched candlesticks or resting on the braches of the tree of life.The inscription Iulia Augusta, which can be read on the lead pipes, is the reason why the building is supposed to belong to Livia, wife of the emperor Augustus, whose living residence was a few steps away. A shared hypothesis among experts is that it was a pre-existent independent house built at the time of the Roman republic, and then renovated around the year 30 b.C. to obtain an apartment for Livia inside the wider building complex reserved to the emperor August.

Timetable details

Winter opening (from the last Sunday of October to the last Saturday of March): 9.00 am- 12.30 pm (exit 1 pm)

Summer opening (from the last Sunday of March to the last Saturday of October): 9.00 am – 1.30 pm (exit 2 pm))

Forum Pass SUPER ticket (from 1 January 2020)

Full rate € 16.00; Reduced rate € 2.00

Ticket valid for 1 day with 1 entrance to Roman Forum / Imperial Forums / Palatine archaeological area and SUPER sites (subject to daily maximum visitor capacity). Admission to temporary exhibition/s included.

Full Experience ticket (from January 1, 2020)

Full rate € 22.00; Reduced rate € 2.00

Admission to Colosseum with Arena or Underground levels, Roman Forum, Palatine, special SUPER Sites and Imperial Forums.

Ticket valid for 2 days with 1 entrance to the Colosseum and 1 entrance to the Forums and Palatine area. Admission to temporary exhibition included.

 

Visitors are reminded that the sites included as part of the SUPER ticket (the Palatine Museum, the Neronian Cryptoporticus, the houses of Augustus and Livia, the Loggia Mattei, the Domus Transitoria, Santa Maria Antiqua with the Oratory of the Forty Martyrs and Domitian’s Ramp, the Temple of Romulus) will be closed to the public during free entry days (First Sunday of the month from October 2019 to March 2020; May 9, June 5 and 29, September 23, October 4, November 4, 18 December).

Address

piazza di Santa Maria Nova, 53
00186 Roma

Timetables

See description

Situazione Emergenziale Aperture :

Chiuso temporaneamente (Covid-19)

Information

parcocolosseo.it
pa-colosseo@beniculturali.it
Ph: +39 0669984418
Closure: Monday
Full: 16,00 € - € 22,00
Reduced: 2,00 €