Roman villa of Ossaia
The imperial ancient Roman villa of Ossaia was a large luxurious villa rustica in the rural locality of modern Ossaia, 5 km south of the ancient and modern town of Cortona. It belonged at one time to the family of Augustus, namely his grandsons Gaius Caesar and Lucius Caesar.
History
The villa was built over an Etruscan sanctuary from the 5th c. BC.[1]
The architectural and decorative models for the luxurious villa of Ossaia were derived from about 100 BC from Rome where similar grand villas were built on the slopes of the Palatine.[2]
The villa was inhabited from the 1st century BC until the 6th century AD. The large, luxurious, elongated terraced villa was built (shown by tile stamps) by C. Avilius (or Annius) Capitus in the late 2nd or eariy 1st c. BC.[3] Later in the 1st c. BC the villa was monumentalised by the consular family Vibii Pansae and then later by their heirs, Gaius Caesar and Lucius Caesar, grandsons and heirs to the throne of emperor Augustus.
Between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD the villa underwent major architectural changes when residential rooms were turned into workshops, part of the villa was unoccupied and some rooms were rearranged.
From the 3rd to 6th centuries AD, the site developed further into a village (vicus) surrounding the richer and larger dwelling. Although the villa was modified over this period according to fashion and taste, the original features were maintained. The villa consisted of 3 separate building areas and a large cistern.
The Villa
The villa was situated close to the Roman road to Cortona and was raised off the valley floor on a platform supported by a cryptoporticus.
An immense cistern in opus vittatum (alternating courses of brick and stone) dating from the 2nd c. AD dominated part of the site, and was decorative as its exposed southern face to the road included a line of arches resembling a cryptoporticus. Its size indicates it was mainly used for agriculture and that the estate was prosperous in this period.
Many finds and mosaics from the villa are in the Accademia Etrusca in Cortona.
The main villa consisted of three seperate building areas.
Area 1
The different orientation of this area underlines its functional distiction from the rest of the site, as this southernmost area was the public part, built around a V-shaped portico that overlooked the via Chiana.
Black and white mosaics of the 1st c. BC to 1st c. AD were found underneath the post Constantinian mosaics visible today from after 300 AD. The importance of this area in the early phase of the villa is confirmed by the terracotta relief plaques, the Campana reliefs.[4] Such reliefs were usually employed in public buildings for sacred or civic functions, and also in the most prestigious private buildings. A group of long rooms alternated with basins and with the terracotta relief plaques to constitute the public entertainment area.
500 m to the south was a nymphaeum and a circular building with a mosaic floor, water supply and basins appear to be a sort of water park.
Despite the fact that the area was modified over the life of the site, the original architectural and decorative features were maintained, and changed only to express the taste and fashion of the owners in the various periods.
Area 2
This area was built over the Etruscan sanctuary and was the private and most traditional part of the villa, based around an atrium with a peristyle and garden. The layout of the atrium and the monochrome mosaic around it are similar to the Villa dei Volusii at Lucus Feroniae near Rome.
A staircase led to an upper collonaded terrace with fountain. After the first century AD the large rooms of Area 2 were reduced in size, the floors covered in mortar and was used for the production of bricks and tiles maybe by slaves.[5]
Area 3
This area was built upon the late republican villa of lst c. B.C- Ist c. AD.
In this area the most important rooms were for private entertainment, one for winter use (no 23) and for summer use (nos. 25-26), identical to such rooms found in important houses at Pompeii and in the winter palace of king Herod at Jericho. The peristyle mosaic with pieces of imported marble, the baths (nos. 21, 21a-b) and internal garden (nos. 15-18) were also important features. In the 2nd c. AD, a kiln for lamps and pottery was built in the garden. In the 3rd c. AD this area was again used for entertainment (the Panther mosaic covered the 1st c. BC-AD. baths).
References
- ^ G.F. Gamurrini. "Cortona." 1881. NSc 43-45.
- ^ by Fracchia H et al., La Villa di Ossaia. Il Territorio di Cortona in Età Romana. 2015 ISBN 978-8871405858
- ^ Fedeli, L. et al: la villa di Ossaia : campagne di scavo 1998-2005, in [Notiziario della Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici della Toscana : 1, 2005][Firenze : All'insegna del giglio, 2005.] - Permalink: http://digital.casalini.it/10.1400/204977
- ^ M. Gualtieri et al. Campana plaques from Ossaia - La Tufa (Cortona, Arezzo): from archaeological hypotheses to archaeometric results Per. Mineral. (2002), 71, SPECIAL ISSUE: Archaeometry and Cultural Heritage, 145-166
- ^ by Fracchia H et al., La Villa di Ossaia. Il Territorio di Cortona in Età Romana. 2015 ISBN 978-8871405858
