Villa of Livia

The Villa of Livia is an ancient Roman suburban villa at Prima Porta, north of Rome, associated with Livia Drusilla and dated to the late 1st century BC. It is renowned for its exceptionally well-preserved painted decoration depicting garden scenes.

The principal highlight is the painted “Garden Room,” a continuous naturalistic mural portraying plants, birds and insects that provides an important example of Roman fresco work and garden imagery. Visitors also see remaining villa structures and reconfigured reception spaces that reveal elite Roman domestic architecture.

Built and decorated in the late Republican to early Imperial period, the villa belonged to members of the imperial household and was elaborated with high-quality wall painting and architectural features. Frescoes and decorative elements from the site are key documents for the study of Roman domestic decoration.

The villa stands at Prima Porta along the ancient Via Flaminia, approximately to the north of central Rome, and is accessible by road from the city.

• Date and association: Attributed to the villa of Livia Drusilla, wife of Emperor Augustus, and dated to the late 1st century BC to early 1st century AD.
• Access: The site is located along the ancient Via Flaminia north of Rome and is reachable from the city for day visits.

What to See #

• Garden Room: The "Garden Room," a late 1st-century BC painted wall scene of plants and birds considered among the finest Roman garden frescoes.
• Villa remains: Subterranean reception rooms and the villa's structural remains showing terraces and residential layouts typical of elite Roman suburban villas.