The Sanctuary of Hercules Victor is one of the major examples of Roman cult architecture of the Republican era (building began in the 2nd century B.C.). A spectacular structure of an imposing size, it was built on a vast raised open site towering over the river Aniene, along an ancient transhumance route, which subsequently became the via Tiburtina. The road was carried under the architectural complex by a tunnel (Via Tecta or “covered street”), which was built beneath it.

The sanctuary was formed by three parts: the theatre, which made use of the naturally sloping ground, a large square surrounded by porticoes and the actual temple in the centre of the square and aligned with the theatre. After the site had been abandoned as a place of worship, it began to be used for different purposes. The presence of abundant water attracted industries, such as wool mills, an arms factory, foundries, a paper mill and the first hydroelectric power plant, which produced alternating current for a considerable area. So much so, the Sanctuary area now includes an extraordinary industrial heritage.

Southeast of Ponte Lucano rises the bulk of the sepulcher of the illustrious Plautia family which, together with the Tomb of Cecilia Metella on the Appia Antica in Rome, represents a reference in the funerary monuments panorama of the Roman era. The mausoleum, dating back to the first century AD, has been studied and represented since the 15th century. It consists of a cylindrical upper body in parallelepiped travertine blocks, punctuated halfway up the height by a projecting frame, and a quadrangular base, also covered in blocks of the same material. Inside the base was the burial cell, accessed through an entrance, now partially buried, supported by a flat arc with travertine ashlars, located on the opposite side of the ancient Via Tiburtina route. Here were located the burials of M. Plautius Silvanus, his consort Lartia and his son A. Plautius Urgulanius. The mausoleum also housed the remains of their descendants, as evidenced by the preserved inscriptions. Over the centuries the monument underwent numerous modifications, mainly as a result of functional adaptations, engineering interventions, excavations and restoration. Becoming an outpost to protect the nearby bridge over the Aniene River during the Middle Ages, in the 15th century it was transformed into a large tower with small arches and battlements, with an added upper part made of a solid masonry of basalt, travertine and marble flakes. Starting from 1834, the first projects begin to safeguard the monument, subjected to restrictions due to cultural interest in the 1950s, while industrial and private construction grow indiscriminately around it. Recent interventions by the Superintendency of Archaeology, Fine Arts and Landscape of Rome’s metropolitan area and Rieti’s province concerned the restoration of the mausoleum and the reclamation of the surroundings to protect the area’s scenic value. In addition to the recovery of the vast interior environment, the external blocks were cleaned, the crenellated crowning was reintegrated and the inscriptions were restored to full legibility.

In July 2022 the monument became part of the heritage managed by the autonomous Institute “Villa Adriana and Villa d’Este”, as already established by Ministerial Decree n. 198 of 9 April 2016.

Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2001, the villa grounds include a masterpiece of Italian garden design with an amazing concentration of fountains, nymphaea, grottoes, water themes and a organ which produces audible effects created by water.

This is the place where, disillusioned at not having been elected as Pope, Cardinal Ippolito II d’Este revived the splendour of the courts of Ferrara, Rome and Fointanebleau, and brought the magnificence of Villa Adriana back to life. Governor of Tivoli from the year 1550, he soon toyed with the idea of creating a garden on the slope of the Valle gaudente, but it was only after 1560 that the architectural and iconological aspects of the Villa, designed by painter-archaeologist-architect Pirro Ligorio and built by court architect Alberto Galvani, became clear. The palace was decorated by the protagonists of late Roman Mannerism.

The Villa had almost been completed by the time Ippolito d’Este died in 1572. Further work in the 17th century was followed by a period of decline, until Cardinal Gustav Adolf von Hohenlohe refurbished the old grandeur and even hosted musician Ferenc Liszt (1811-1886). Purchased by the Italian government between the Twenties and Thirties of the last century, the Villa was renovated and opened to the public

Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999, the Villa was built between 118 and 138 A.D. by the Emperor Hadrian in a lush and verdant oasis near Tivoli, the ancient Tibur.

The Villa covered an area of at least 296 acres and included residential buildings, thermal baths, nymphaea, pavilions and gardens. The individual buildings were not only linked together by paths on the surface but also by an underground network of routes for pedestrians and carts used by menials engaged in service providing activities. The architectural and sculptural decorations of the villa were extraordinarily lavish and have been the subject of feverish and systematic research from as far back as Renaissance times.

Almost all the major museums and collections in Rome, the rest of Italy and even Europe exhibit artefacts from Villa Adriana. At the present time, around 99 acres are open to visitors

The Mensa Ponderaria, or public weigh-house, was situated in the forum of the city of Tibur. The building, which probably dates back to Augustan times, was discovered by chance in 1883. It represents one of those rare occasions in which the specific function of public weigh-house was identified thanks to the presence of two marble mensae, or tables, with concave cavities of different sizes where the official weights were housed. An adjacent structure, discovered in 1920, was probably dedicated to the imperial cult (Augusteum).

An inscription provides information about the person who saw to the erection of the construction, the freedman Marcus Varenus Diphilus, magister Herculaneus, a rich and powerful college connected to the cult of Hercules.