"Golden House" of Nero in Rome: history, description, reconstruction, how to get there

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

The largest residence of the monarch in Rome appears as an ancient palace and park ensemble. Nero's dream to create the most famous and largest palace in Europe came true thanks to two architects - Celer and Severus.

The plan included the creation of parks and artificial ponds, the improvement of meadows and vineyards. The creators planned to open a separate small city in the center of the Italian capital, which would be connected to other parts of Rome. The palace residence, the Roman estate and the Campanian villa are the components of the Golden House.

Who is Nero

At the age of 17, the son of the second wife of Emperor Claudius, Agrippina, ascended the Roman throne. He ruled from 54 to 68 AD. His mother was his legal representative (equally ruler) for many years. Nero is known as a mad monarch. Instead of improving the economic, social and political life of Rome, Nero devoted most of his time to himself. He was very vain and tried to become famous in acting or art, without having a talent for it.

Being under his mother's care, he kept his evil inclinations in check. But at 59In the year Nero conspired and, with the help of guards, killed Agrippina.

During the years of his reign, the emperor spent almost all the money of the treasury, arranging various expensive performances, games and holidays. How was the treasury replenished? Executions of rich people, whose money was immediately given to prepare the next feast.

The people thought the emperor was crazy and accused him of burning Rome. Nero really wanted to write a poem about Troy and the fire in the city (after the attack of the Gauls) was supposed to restore his inspiration. As a result, the main palace of the monarch burned down, on the site of which the grandiose Roman palace ensemble of Nero was subsequently built.

History of Nero's Golden House

To fulfill his dream of building, Nero ordered to dismantle the rubble of a huge burnt area, where previously there were many temple buildings, monuments and so on. The area of the entire palace complex, according to some estimates, exceeded one hundred hectares. He occupied the territories of the Esquiline, the Palatine, and the area between the slopes of the Quirinal and Caelium.

The name "Golden House" was due to the gilded dome, first used in Roman temple buildings. The description of Nero's "House of Gold" is truly admirable. A grandiose statue of the ruler himself, 35 meters high, was installed in the lobby of the castle. With the help of an artificial s alt lake inside the palace, it was planned to organize boat trips. Gardens and parks were filled with fountains, ponds with colorful fish and birds, their own palace forestsdomesticated wild animals. Aqueducts with running water not only filled the reservoirs, but also irrigated trees and greenery. The shores were full of snow-white statues.

Many scientists believe that for the people of Rome Nero's "Golden House" was built in the form of a palace of the Sun - the dwelling place of God. In the "House" was invented special lighting. Sunlight penetrated into all rooms, including the far chambers. Through ceiling openings, the sun shone directly on the frescoes and fabrics trimmed with gold, as well as on the precious stones decorating the castle.

What the palace complex consisted of

The bright and romantic palace owes its lightness to cement. It was in the construction of the "Golden House" that for the first time cement was used to create domes and arched structures, which means that there was no need to construct powerful walls for the supporting function.

The construction of the palace lasted for several years. All the walls had gilded finishes and various grades of marble. The snow-white primed ceilings were filled with beautiful panels. The halls intended for feasts had sliding vaults. Flowers and incense splattered from open ceilings. There was a special octagonal hall in which the ceiling represented the vault of heaven and could rotate without stopping.

Therms, created for bathing, were filled with sulfuric and mineral waters. The technological surprise was the creation of the first elevator in history that workedwith the help of human hands. Nero's palace contained about a hundred rooms and halls.

Painting and murals

The whole picture of the panel was a general composition of the wall and the vault, where the figures of people fit in. A characteristic feature of the painting style is paintings with the same miniature scale, which is at a height, which is along the low parts of the walls.

Most of the paintings and frescoes were painted by the emperor's chief artist, Fabulus. His famous painting "Minerva" amazed everyone who looked at it. Her eyes seemed to follow the audience.

The ceiling painting was also of extraordinary beauty. For example, the ceiling in one of the huge rooms was divided into squares, circles and ovals using gilded frames. In these figurative fields, episodes from mythological tales were presented. Because of Nero's love for the story of the Trojan horse, scenes from the famous epic were depicted on the frescoes in a fairly large number. For example, burning ships during the Trojan War. An already lost manuscript with drawings from the great Iliad was taken as the basis for a fresco located in the cryptoportic.

Development of the house after the death of the ruler

Nero's death came to him unexpectedly, his own servant stabbed the emperor with a knife. According to archaeologists, the implementation of the project of the palace complex was only 80 percent completed. When Nero moved into his new home, the main palace was not completely frescoed, although most of the buildings were completed.

After Nero's departure to the world, his successor Vespasianordered to change the face of the sculpture that met visitors at the entrance to the palace. The fact is that the sculpture almost completely copied the face of Nero. And later, the statue completely changed its location - it was moved to the Flavium amphitheater, which was later renamed the Colosseum.

Vespasian decided that there was no profitability to complete the construction of the complex, since a large amount of money was required from the treasury. Thus came the end of the Golden House.

The area was completely abandoned, and after a while it caught fire. In connection with these events, the palace ensemble was razed to the ground, the ponds were filled up, and the remaining remains of the buildings were mothballed underground. Later, this area was covered with new buildings: the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, the Baths of Trajan, the Arc de Triomphe, the Basilica of Maxentius and the Basilica of Constantine. Private houses were erected in other areas of Nero's Golden House, which burned down in Rome again.

Remains of the emperor's dream resting underground were found only in the 15th century.

Reconstruction of Nero's Golden House

In the 21st century, the first restoration work began in 2006. Today, visitors to Rome can see the remains of the walls that fill the Esquiline Hill. All the halls with domes are hidden under the flooring of the earth, and sunlight enters the interior through a round opening in the octagonal hall.

You can visit the ruins only with a guide, during a special tour. This is related to theceiling collapses in 2010

Nero's "Golden House" is still under reconstruction, and according to conservative estimates, thirty million euros are needed for its complete restoration. If efforts are not invested in the reconstruction, then all the buildings of the complex will simply collapse.

What to watch now

What places can you see on excursions? Most of the walk takes place along the elevated part of the palace, and after the tourists go to the octagonal hall, with two passages to other rooms. In the initial hall, you can still see the preserved remains of the water pipe leading to the fountain.

Stepping on well-preserved marble, visitors enter the Odysseus Nymphaeum and the Trajan's Thermal Baths Gallery. The palace has long ceased to shine with its grandeur, as groundwater and plant roots are gradually destroying its walls.