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Island of Elba Linguella villa
The Linguella Roman villa stands behind the Linguella Tower (Martello Tower), at the bottom of the port of Portoferraio. The first plant of the Roman villa was built in the middle of the I century BC, where on the narrow strip of land that closes the natural harbour of the town you could control the entrance of the gulf of Portoferraio. On the other side of the coast stood the majestic Roman villa of the Grottos, creating a visual impact of extraordinary effect to those who visited the ancient Fabricia (Portoferraio).
Today what remains of the Linguella Roman villa are some relicts, partly because of the overlap of the Medicean fortifications built later on one part of the villa, where they do not a faithful reconstruction of the building articulation. Probably the front sea of the villa contained bellies, porticoes or fishponds that protruded into the water. The villa also known as the "Bagni della regina Alba" has undergone some transformations over the first three centuries of the Roman Empire.
The first original plant, built between the I century BC and the I century AD few traces remain: you can still recognize some homes with marble slabs floors and walls and plasters richly frescoed with red floral patterns on yellow background that covered the ceiling. In this period the Linguella Roman villa was equipped with a spa area, as evidenced by a circular room enlivened by four apses, recognizable as laconicum, the thermal path intended for hot air bath, i.e. the current sauna where the opus signinum floor has inserted palombino hexagonal tiles radiated out to the Center, where was to be given the necessary environmental warming stove.
In the early decades of the II century AD, some interventions expand and enrich the residential area, and in the III century AD the villa was undergo massive restructuring whose remains are important for the wealth of decorative programme.
In the Linguella archaeological area, there was one building project after another that have interpreted in much different way the kind of the place. So, to the rich residential roman villa, risen on the river of the sea between the I century BC and the III century AD, and then abandoned over the centuries, as from the medicean age were replaced bastions, towers and communication trenches in order to control the income of the port, until to the transformation of the area in penal bath in the XIX century.
Museo Archeologico della Linguella
The Linguella Civic and Archeological Museum is located inside the Medici Fortress of Linguella in Portoferraio.
Linguella Tower
Also known as a Martello Tower is recognizable for its octagonal shape that dominates the entrance to the port of Portoferraio.
Villa delle Grotte
First century BC Roman luxury villa dominating the gulf of Portoferraio
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The Roman villa of the Grottos, with his always visible remains gave its name to the promontory on which it stands in a panoramic position in front of the ...
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