{"id":4364,"date":"2016-11-04T14:50:47","date_gmt":"2016-11-04T14:50:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.visionpubl.com\/en\/?p=4364"},"modified":"2016-11-04T15:13:56","modified_gmt":"2016-11-04T15:13:56","slug":"mausoleum-hadrian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.visionpubl.com\/en\/cities\/mausoleum-hadrian\/","title":{"rendered":"Mausoleum of Hadrian"},"content":{"rendered":"

Following the example of Augustus<\/strong>, who had built a Mausoleum<\/strong> in the Campus Martius<\/strong>, the Emperor Hadrian (117-138 AD)<\/strong> decided to build a monumental tomb for himself and his successors during his lifetime.<\/p>\n

The resulting Mausoleum of Hadrian<\/strong> was erected on the right bank of the Tiber<\/strong>, not far from that of Augustus<\/strong>.<\/p>\n


\nPhoto credits by Ben Cremin<\/a> under CC-BY license.<\/p>\n

Begun around 130 AD<\/strong>, it had a massive cylindrical core, 64m in diameter, the lower part of which was surrounded by a square base completely veneered in marble.<\/p>\n

An earthen tumulus probably rose above this cylinder, the monument being crowned by a huge central pillar surmounted by a gilt bronze statue of the emperor<\/strong> in a chariot.<\/p>\n

The building was incomplete when Hadrian<\/strong> died and he could not be buried there until a year later, in 139 AD, after Antoninus Pius<\/strong> had finished the great tomb.<\/p>\n

To facilitate direct access to the tomb from the Campus Martius<\/strong>, Hadrian<\/strong> also built the bridge to which he gave his family name, the Pons Aelius<\/strong>, a greater and more elaborate structure than any of its predecessors.<\/p>\n

The Mausoleum<\/strong> was included by Honorius<\/strong>, at the beginning of the 5th <\/sup>Century AD<\/strong>, in the defensive system of the Aurelian Walls<\/strong>, as a kind of outlying bastion, and perhaps from the 10th<\/sup> Century\u00a0 onwards<\/strong>, it was transformed into a fortress (Castel Sant’Angelo)<\/strong>, serving to defend the Vatican<\/strong>, to which it was linked by a special ‘viaduct’ (raised passageway).<\/p>\n

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How to get to Mausoleum of Hadrian<\/h2>\n
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The Mausoleum of Hadrian is located here:<\/p>\n