Villa dei Quintili e Santa Maria Nova - Parco Archeologico dell'Appia Antica

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This villa, the largest in the Roman suburbs, belonged to two brothers from the Roman senatorial family of the Quintili, consuls in AD 151. In AD 182, Emperor Commodus had the brothers put to death in order to confiscate their properties. The villa became the residence of many subsequent emperors and part of the imperial estate. Recent excavations have brought to light the remains of luxurious decorations: in addition to living quarters and baths, the villa had buildings for spectacles, a large garden surrounded by porticoes and a spectacular nymphaeum visible from the Via Appia entrance, that was converted into a fortress during the medieval period. In 2006 the complex was enriched with the purchase of the estate and the farmhouse of S. Maria Nova, which today constitute the access to the archaeological area from Via Appia Antica.