Tomb of Cecilia Metella - Rome, Italy
N 41° 51.120 E 012° 31.247
33T E 294194 N 4636315
The Tomb of Cecilia Metella is a mausoleum located just outside of Rome at the three mile marker of the Via Appia.
Waymark Code: WMPPVM
Location: Lazio, Italy
Date Posted: 10/04/2015
Views: 2
It was built during the 1st century B.C to honor Caecilia Metella who was the daughter of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Creticus, a Consul in 69 B.C, and wife of Marcus Licinius Crassus, son of the famous Marcus Crassus who served under Julius Caesar.
Located on top of a hill along the Via Appia, the Tomb of Caecilia Metella consists of a cylindrical drum, or rotunda, atop a square podium with the Caetani Castle (Castrum) attached at the rear.
On the outside of the monument, an inscription can be seen reading "CAECILIAE |Q·CRETICI·F | METELLAE·CRASSI" indicating to whom this tomb was dedicated. Further up the monument, decorations can be seen depicting festoons and bucrania, heads of bulls, which were the inspiration for the area being named Capo Di Bove, meaning head of the bovine. At the top of the monument, medieval battlements can be seen from the time when the tomb was used as a fortress.
The core of the podium was cast in several layers of concrete, ranging from .7 to .85 m thick. The thickness of each layer corresponds with the height of the travertine facing blocks that surrounded the podium as the travertine was used as a frame in order to help the concrete layers form.
The rotunda was built in this same fashion, travertine blocks on the outermost section with cement poured in the middle to give the concrete some structure and then covered in Travertine revetment, most of which has been stripped away.
Originally the top of the monument would have been a cone shaped earthen mound as conical shapes were common with Roman rotundas but the earthen mound has long been replaced by medieval battlements. It is believed the
The Roman concrete was made up of semi-liquid mortar and aggregate, which consisted of broken pieces of stone or bricks. The aggregate was made up of rather large pieces of stone (about the size of a fist) compared to modern cement which is finely ground to create a smooth, flat surface. Mortar and concrete were alternated in the construction as the semi-liquid mortar would bind the stone pieces together. The mortar used at this tomb utilized the lava rock beneath the monument as a substitute for sand in the concrete. The lava rock worked as well as sand and was more abundant versus the difficult to find sand.
The upper section of the rotunda is decorated quite minimally with a marble frieze of bucrania, oxen heads, and garlands.
City, State or City, Country: Rome, Italy
Year Built: 1st Century BC
Architect: Unknown
Webpage from GreatBuildings.com or other approved listing: [Web Link]
Other website with more information about building: [Web Link]
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