Palazzo a Mare (; translation: "Sea Palace"; alternative, Palatium) is a well-preserved ancient Roman archaeological site on the north side of the island of Capri, consisting of an imperial palace built by

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

and modified by

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

. It was one of the supposed twelve villas of Tiberius on the island as described by

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

, along with the

Villa Jovis Villa Jovis ("Villa of Jupiter") is a Roman palace on Capri, southern Italy, built by emperor Tiberius and completed in AD 27. Tiberius ruled mainly from there until his death in AD 37. Villa Jovis is the largest of the twelve Tiberian villas ...

, Villa di Gradola and Villa Damecuta. It covers a very large area on several terraces overlooking the sea. The palace was equipped with a semicircular nymphaeum. The excavations were carried out by

Amedeo Maiuri Amedeo Maiuri (January 7, 1886 – April 7, 1963) was an Italian archaeologist, famous for his archaeological investigations of the Roman city of Pompeii which was destroyed in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in August of AD 79. He was the first ...

starting from 1932. Carlo Knight, Sulle tracce di Augusto, duemila anni dopo, in Corriere del Mezzogiorno, 24 agosto 2014. http://www.patrimoniosos.it/rsol.php?op=getarticle&id=112363 In 1903, the Royal Geographical Society described it as: :By far the most extensive Roman remains upon the Capri

littoral The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal a ...

are those known as the Palazzo a Mare, one of the largest of the twelve villas of Tiberius, and therefore dating from about 27 to 37 A.D. The buildings not only covered considerable ground on the top of the cliffs, which were buttressed by strong walls, but also extended down to the beach, where the north wing was thrown out towards the sea, and must have made a charming abode in summer. As seen from tho sea, a semioiroular exedra of opus reticulatum halfway up the face of the cliff is one of the most conspicuous features of the ruins. It is built so as to cover the middle third of the height of the cliff facing Vesuvius. Many fragments of walls lie in the water below, having been undermined by the sea; but as they have fallen from uncertain levels, they do not supply us with data as reliable as those to be derived from the western portions of the building still ''in situ''.

References

Buildings and structures in Capri, Campania Archaeological sites in Campania Roman villas in Italy {{Italy-geo-stub