The ruins of a huge building are towering over the Roman Forum. It is the House of Tiberius. The palace was built at the end of a steep slope of the Palatine Hill. Its lower columns were near the Temple of Vesta at the Roman Forum.
The residence of Augustus was on the Palatine Hill on the side of the Circus Maximus. And Tiberius wanted to build a new palace nearer the Roman Forum. The emperor personally controlled the construction of the palace. But unfortunately, it was not finished before his death. The palace was finished already under his successor, Caligula, who significantly enlarged it. The palace was also small for Nero who lived there too. After the Great Fire of Rome he began the construction of the new Golden Palace.
At the times of Caligula and Nero a bridge connected the House of Tiberius to the Capitoline Hill. And in the reign of Nero an underground passage was also constructed. The passage led to the Oppian Hill, which is at a distance of over a kilometer from the Palatine Hill.
To our days of the House of Tiberius there remained only massive columns near the Roman Forum. The Farnese Gardens are now on the site of the main part of the palace on the top of the Palatine Hill. One can have the most beautiful view of the Roman Forum from the sightseeing point located near that place. Tourists can also see the Colosseum, various imperial forums, the Capitoline Museum and the Vittoriano monument from there.
At the foot of the House of Tiberius, on the Roman Forum, there remained the ruins of the Temple of Vesta (a small fragment of the temple itself and several sculptures), the Temple of Castor and Pollux (three huge columns) and the Santa Maria Antiqua (there are many frescoes of 5-6 centuries in this most ancient Christian church but tourists cannot see them).
