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Island of Elba Linguella villa
The Linguella Roman villa stands
behind the Linguella Tower (Martello
Tower), at the bottom of the port of Portoferraio. The
first plant of the Roman villa was built in the middle of the I
century BC, where on the narrow strip of land that closes the
natural harbour of the town you could control the entrance of the
gulf of Portoferraio. On the other side of the coast stood the
majestic Roman villa of the Grottos, creating a visual impact of
extraordinary effect to those who visited the ancient
Fabricia (Portoferraio).
Today what remains of the Linguella Roman villa are some relicts,
partly because of the overlap of the Medicean fortifications
built later on one part of the villa, where they do not a
faithful reconstruction of the building articulation. Probably
the front sea of the villa contained bellies, porticoes or
fishponds that protruded into the water. The villa also known as
the "Bagni della regina Alba" has undergone some transformations
over the first three centuries of the Roman Empire.
The first original plant, built between the I century BC and the
I century AD few traces remain: you can still recognize some
homes with marble slabs floors and walls and plasters richly
frescoed with red floral patterns on yellow background that
covered the ceiling. In this period the Linguella Roman villa was
equipped with a spa area, as evidenced by a circular room
enlivened by four apses, recognizable as laconicum, the thermal
path intended for hot air bath, i.e. the current sauna where the
opus signinum floor has inserted palombino hexagonal tiles
radiated out to the Center, where was to be given the necessary
environmental warming stove.
In the early decades of the II century AD, some interventions
expand and enrich the residential area, and in the III century AD
the villa was undergo massive restructuring whose remains are
important for the wealth of decorative programme.
In the Linguella archaeological area, there was one building
project after another that have interpreted in much different way
the kind of the place. So, to the rich residential roman villa,
risen on the river of the sea between the I century BC and the
III century AD, and then abandoned over the centuries, as from
the medicean age were replaced bastions, towers and communication
trenches in order to control the income of the port, until to the
transformation of the area in penal bath in the XIX century.
Museo Archeologico della Linguella
The Linguella Civic and Archeological Museum is located inside the Medici Fortress of Linguella in Portoferraio.
Linguella Tower
Also known as a Martello Tower is recognizable for its octagonal
shape that dominates the entrance to the port of
Portoferraio.
Villa delle Grotte
First century BC Roman luxury villa dominating the gulf of Portoferraio
-- INTRO--
The Roman villa of the Grottos, with his always visible remains gave its name to the promontory on which it stands in a panoramic position in front of the ...
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