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Universitätsbibliothek HeidelbergUniversitätsbibliothek Heidelberg
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Piale, Luigi; Wyndham, R. C. [Bearb.]
Rome seen in a week: being a hand-book to Rome and its environs : containing a description of the Roman antiquities, galleries, museums, churches, catacombs and general information necessary to the touristh — Rome: Luigi Piale, 1902

DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.73464#0228
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Lago Tartaro whose waters had the property
of covering the vegetation with a calcarious substance
which petrified it; in fact we see some in a state of
petrification. Proceeding by the road which leads to
Tivoli, we cross the
Ponte della Solfatara, so called from the sul-
phureous smell of the water which runs beneath it,
which comes from the neighbouring.
Lago della Solfatara, or Lake of the Floating
Islands, as it is sometimes called. The bituminous
matter of which the waters of this lake are composed,
becomes condensed and forms the floating bodies which
procure it this name. The water is most efficacious for
the cure of skin complaints, and in the summer the Lake
is much frequented for the baths. Three kilom. from
the bridge of the Solfatara, we cross the Anio by the
Ponte Lucano, in a picturesque position. There
is near it the
Sepolero della famiglla Plauzla, remar-
kable for the solidity and the magnificence of its cons-
truction; there are some inscriptions. Three kilom.
from this tomb is the
Villa Adriana. The emperor Hadrian on his
return from visiting the provinces of his empire, de-
termined to collect in one villa all those objects which
had principally interested him. To this end he had
erected the Lyceum, the Academy, the Prytaneum
and the Poecile, similar to those of Athens. He added
the Canopus of Egypt, the Vale of Tempe, theatres,
temples and finally Tartarus and the Elysian Fields.
In the centre rose the magnificent imperial palace to
which were united the barracks for the Pretorian guard.
All this was adorned with the most marvellous pro-
ductions of art, the greater part now dispersed in the
principal museums of Europe. It is believed that To-
tila, during the siege of Tivoli, began the devastation
of this villa. Returning to the high road, after about
three kilom. we come to
 
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