Discover Domus Aurea

After the fire of AD 64, which destroyed much of the centre of Rome, the emperor Nero began building a new residence — one that, Turismo Roma records, passed into history under the name Domus Aurea for its sheer display.

It was the largest and most sumptuous of the imperial residences, running from the Palatine Hill to the Oppian Hill and part of the Caelian, and covering about one square mile.

It was not a building but a landscape. Designed by the architects Severus and Celer and decorated by a certain Fabullus, or Famulus, the palace was a series of pavilions separated by gardens, woods and an artificial lake — the lake standing in the valley where the Colosseum now rises. The main nuclei were on the Palatine and the Oppian, and were famous for the sumptuousness of their decoration.

Among its banqueting halls was the coenatio rotunda, a great octagonal room with a pavilion vault which, according to Suetonius, turned on itself day and night; and an enormous vestibule held the colossal statue of the emperor in the guise of the Sun God. The rooms were finely decorated and enriched with statues brought from Greece and Asia Minor.

Then it was deliberately buried. After Nero's death his successors wanted to erase every trace of the emperor and his palace: they stripped the luxurious halls of their revetments and sculpture, filled them with earth up to the vaults, and used them as foundations for other buildings. The Thermae Traiani were raised over the top — and that, Turismo Roma says, is what allowed some rooms of the Domus to be preserved to our own day.

What you visit is the Oppian Hill group, pavilions probably intended for feasts and banquets, buried by the great baths of Trajan and unknown until the Renaissance.

The plan hinges on two pentagonal courtyards. Turismo Roma records that the main nucleus of the Domus Aurea consisted of two pentagonal courtyards which acted as the junction between the western and the eastern sector — an unusual geometry doing an ordinary structural job.

The famous room is octagonal and vaulted. The coenatio rotunda was a great octagonal hall with a pavilion vault which, according to Suetonius, turned on itself day and night.

The decoration was layered by height, and only the top layer survives. The walls were faced up to a certain level with marble slabs, now lost, while the upper part and the ceilings were decorated with paintings and stuccoes of mythical figures — Achilles and Scirus, Ulysses and Polyphemus, Hector and Andromache.

The whole thing was designed around a view. The rooms all opened onto the portico, which gave a fine view over the valley with its artificial lake and the gardens around it. That is why Turismo Roma can say that light was originally the predominant characteristic of rooms that are now dark and gloomy.

And the palace was an arrangement of buildings, not one building. It was a series of pavilions separated by gardens, woods and an artificial lake, with the main nuclei on the Palatine and the Oppian, famous for the sumptuousness of their decoration.

It was built fast, after a disaster, by named men. Construction began after the fire of AD 64 that destroyed much of the centre of Rome; the architects were Severus and Celer, and the decoration was by a certain Fabullus or Famulus.

The materials came from outside Italy. The rooms were finely decorated and enriched with statues that came from Greece and Asia Minor, and the lower walls were faced with marble slabs.

Then it was unbuilt on purpose. After Nero's death his successors wanted to cancel every trace of the emperor and his palace. They stripped the luxurious halls of their revetments and their sculpture, filled them with earth right up to the vaults, and used them as foundations for other buildings.

Burial is the reason there is anything to visit. The Thermae Traiani were built over the Domus Aurea, and Turismo Roma states the consequence without hedging: they allowed the preservation of some rooms of the Domus to our own day. The vaults held because they were packed solid and loaded from above.

The last phase of its making was a rediscovery. The Oppian pavilions stayed unknown until the Renaissance, when chance finds led artists to lower themselves from above into the filled rooms.

When is it open? Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with visits every 15 minutes from 09.00 to 16.30 and last entry at 15.30.

Is it ever closed on those days? Yes — the first Sunday of every month.

How much does it cost? Turismo Roma publishes no price. It gives the ticket page at colosseo.it/biglietti/domus-aurea and nothing more, so no amount is quoted here.

Do I need to book? Entry is in timed slots every 15 minutes, and the city points to an online ticket page; it does not state whether tickets are also sold at the door.

What part can I actually see? The pavilions on the Oppian Hill, probably intended for feasts and banquets. The Palatine nucleus is not part of the visit.

Why is it underground? Because Nero's successors filled the halls with earth up to the vaults and used them as foundations, and the Baths of Trajan were built on top.

Is there anything left to look at inside? Yes, above head height. The marble revetments are lost, but the upper walls and ceilings keep paintings and stuccoes of Achilles and Scirus, Ulysses and Polyphemus, Hector and Andromache.

What was the rotating room? The coenatio rotunda, a great octagonal hall with a pavilion vault which, according to Suetonius, turned on itself day and night.

How big was the palace? About one square mile, from the Palatine Hill to the Oppian and part of the Caelian — the largest and most sumptuous of the imperial residences.

Where was the lake? In the valley where the Colosseum now stands.

What does "grotesque" have to do with it? Renaissance artists lowered themselves from above into these buried rooms, which they took for grottoes, and copied the decoration; from that the motifs were called grottesche, and "grotesque painting" still names a genre widespread above all in the sixteenth century.

Why is it so dark? Because it is buried. Turismo Roma notes that the rooms are now dark and gloomy, but originally light was the predominant characteristic, when they all opened onto the portico over the lake and gardens.