The Horti Agrippinae (Gardens of Agrippina) was a luxurious villa-estate belonging to Agrippina the Elder in ancient Rome. It was located on the west bank of the river Tiber [1] where St. Peter's Basilica is now, and extended to the river where a terrace with a portico was built.
It was built on the Ager Vaticanus , the alluvial plain outside the city walls which was developed at the end of the first century BC, [2] allowing patrician families to construct luxurious private residences (Horti). [3]
Her son Caligula inherited the horti [4] and as a chariot racing enthusiast he built the so-called Circus of Nero there. After the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD, Nero had the first Christians persecuted and (presumably) executed in these horti. [5] One of them was the Apostle Peter, who was crucified in the circus. He was buried in the nearby necropolis on Via Cornelia and in the centuries that followed his tomb became a place of pilgrimage. In 324, Constantine the Great therefore had the first St. Peter's Basilica built on the grounds of the Horti Agrippinae and on the circus.
The horti also included the Theatre of Nero, excavated from 2021 to 2023 in the courtyard of the Palazzo dei Penitenzieri. [6]
The so-called Circus of Nero or Circus of Caligula was a circus in ancient Rome, located mostly in the present-day Vatican City.
Saint Peter's Square is a large plaza located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the papal enclave in Rome, directly west of the neighborhood (rione) of Borgo. Both the square and the basilica are named after Saint Peter, an apostle of Jesus whom Catholics consider to be the first Pope.
The Lateran Palace, formally the Apostolic Palace of the Lateran, is an ancient palace of the Roman Empire and later the main papal residence in southeast Rome.
Borgo is the 14th rione of Rome, Italy. It is identified by the initials R. XIV and is included within Municipio I.
Sallustiano is the 17th rione of Rome, identified by the initials R. XVII. It is located within the Municipio I and the name refers to the ancient Gardens of Sallust, which were located here.
The Gardens of Sallust was an ancient Roman estate including a landscaped pleasure garden developed by the historian Sallust in the 1st century BC. It occupied a large area in the northeastern sector of Rome, in what would become Region VI, between the Pincian and Quirinal hills, near the Via Salaria and later Porta Salaria. The modern rione is now known as Sallustiano.
Via Cornelia is an ancient Roman road that supposedly ran east–west along the northern wall of the Circus of Nero on land now covered by the southern wall of St. Peter's Basilica. The location is closely associated with the Via Aurelia and the Via Triumphalis.
Porta Settimiana is one of the gates of the Aurelian walls in Rome, Italy. It rises at the northern vertex of the rough triangle traced by the town walls, built by Emperor Aurelian in the 3rd century, in the area of Trastevere an up through the Janiculum.
The Vatican Necropolis lies under the Vatican City, at depths varying between 5–12 metres below Saint Peter's Basilica. The Vatican sponsored archaeological excavations under Saint Peter's in the years 1940–1949 which revealed parts of a necropolis dating to Imperial times. The work was undertaken at the request of Pope Pius XI who wished to be buried as close as possible to Peter the Apostle. It is also home to the Tomb of the Julii, which has been dated to the third or fourth century. The necropolis was not originally one of the Catacombs of Rome, but an open-air cemetery with tombs and mausolea.
The Pons Neronianus or Bridge of Nero was an ancient bridge in Rome built during the reign of the emperors Caligula or Nero to connect the western part of the Campus Martius with the Ager Vaticanus, where the Imperial Family owned land along the Via Cornelia.
Palazzo Della Rovere is a palace in Rome, Italy, facing Via della Conciliazione. It is also known as Palazzo dei Penitenzieri.
The Meta Romuli was a pyramid built in ancient Rome that is important for historical, religious and architectural reasons. By the 16th century, it was almost completely demolished.
The Terebinth of Nero was a mausoleum built in ancient Rome that is important for historical, religious and architectural reasons. By the 14th century, it was almost completely demolished.
In Ancient Rome, the Ager Vaticanus was the alluvial plain on the right (west) bank of the Tiber. It was also called Ripa Veientana or Ripa Etrusca, indicating the Etruscan dominion during the archaic period. It was located between the Janiculum, the Vatican Hill, and Monte Mario, down to the Aventine Hill and up to the confluence of the Cremera creek.
The Regio XIV Transtiberim is the fourteenth regio of imperial Rome, under Augustus's administrative reform. Meaning "across the Tiber", the Regio took its name from its position on the west bank of the Tiber River.
Borgo Santo Spirito is a street in Rome, Italy, important for historical and artistic reasons. From a historical point of view, it is considered the most interesting street in the Borgo district. Of medieval origin, it is linked to the foundation of the ancient fortified hospice for pilgrims from England, the Burgus Saxonum. The street houses the oldest Roman hospital, the Arcispedale di Santo Spirito in Saxia, which gave it its name. Heavily altered during the works for the opening of Via della Conciliazione, it nevertheless avoided the fate of the two parallel streets of Borgo Nuovo and Borgo Vecchio, both destroyed.
The Horti Spei Veteris, later called Horti Variani, was a luxurious and important palace-estate, eventually the residence of Emperors, on the Esquiline Hill at the south eastern corner of ancient Rome and covering an area of 12,000 m2.
The Theatre of Nero was the private theatre erected in Rome by Nero, the Roman emperor between AD 53 and AD 68.