Whilst recently in
Rome I visited a remarkable archaological site with friends and family, Barco Borghese ("Borghese's hunting park") in Monte Porzio Catone (yes, the surrounding
area is named after the
Porcia Catones!). My photos are here, and the captions explain a lot: I also show below this post five pictures from my visit.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ahala_rome/sets/72157633315376586/detail/It's only been excavated in the last decade or so, and in
scale and perhaps purpose it is most similar to the Temple of
Fortuna Primigenia at Preneste. The Borghese building is a massive sanctuary (no signs of habitation) whose interior floor
area is some 150,000 square feet and that has over 200 rooms, many massive. Thus it forms one of the largest
intact buildings in the ancient world, yet I bet no-one has heard of it. The reason for the name is that the sanctuary lies under Borghese grounds, and thus was likely immune from excavation for centuries and then forgotten about. It dates from the mid second century BC, but the
bulk of the structure is probably Augustan. When compared with the well-known brick basilicas of the later empire it is a surprise to see such a massive building constructed without the use of rectangular
pottery brick, instead it seems to use a mixture of
stone blocks, basalt
stone bricks, opus incertum brickwork, and
pottery tiles (as on a roof) used as bricks. The complex is far from fully excavated, and no restoration has taken place apart from safeguarding, so every brick and tile you see in my photos is in its original position; the same goes for the plaster-work on the ceilings of the vaults. My photos focus on building techniques rather than on grand vista's. About one hour outside
Rome by
car, visits by appointment only, apply via the museum at Monte Porzio Catone (details on internet).
On the exterior brickwork note, no rectangular clay/pottery bricks at all. Those things that look like bricks are basalt blocks, and stacked on them are tiles used as bricks, and the
column has the typical diamond shape pattern of early
Roman opus incertum. So whilst this is as big as the
baths of
Diocletian (bigger in fact) there is not a single ordinary brick in the building. Also note the floor on the photo with me in it, criss-crossed small tiles similar to parquet. There are wonderful brickwork and tiling patterns on the interior, and one also sees decorative tiles reused from prior applications on roofs, with their relief designs
still visible. And there are some surprises too. There are two massive
basilica style aisles with hundreds of rooms leading off; I show small parts of both aisles. Perhaps this was a prototype
Basilica design!
Andrew
