Why were Private Gardens Important? Part 2 - Peristyle Gardens

The other main garden area of the Roman domus (household) apart from the kitchen garden is the peristyle garden, usually located within the house as a family greenspace and place for entertainment. The garden was usually surrounded by a colonnade, and the main area housed florals, trees, fountains, and other elements of a leisure garden. As mentioned before, it may have held flowering herbs or fruit trees, but the primary purpose was not utilitarian, but relaxation. With the roof open to the sky, it also served as a source of light for the house and allowed airflow through the columns into adjacent areas.

(1) Digital model showing a cross section of the peristyle

situated in the home.

The gardens ranged in size according to the wealth of the property owner. Some were quite large, others very small; one house on Via dell’Abbondanza in Pompeii had a peristyle garden measuring only 0.5x2 metres. This particular garden also featured a magnificent garden painting in the second style of wall art, likely intended to make the space feel larger than its actual footprint.

(2) Small peristyle from Via dell'Abbondanza in Pompeii,

with a water feature in the centre.

(3) Photo of a large garden in Pompeii, technically a peristyle, 

but taking up a footprint greater than the home itself.

Many houses featured a second open green space near the front of the house called the atrium. This was an area to provide light to the main rooms as well as to receive guests and visitors. The atrium held a shallow collecting pool for rainwater and a deep, hidden cistern for the excess. Because of its importance and specific use, the atrium is not considered a household garden, but instead, a mesh of private and public space contained within the home. Peristyle gardens were deeper in the home, signifying a much more private space, intended only for the family and their trusted guests.

(4) Pompeii garden; replanted and restored to show original style

Moving forward in time, the peristyle garden is seen imitated in medieval churches in the form of cloisters. The church courtyard was modeled after the peristyle garden of the Roman home, and also held aspects of the horta, the kitchen garden. Cloisters contained herbs, plants, flowers, and shrubs, and were multipurpose in nature, but the architectural aspects are definitely most reminiscent of the peristyle garden: large space, lined by columns, open to the sky for light and water. Below is a picture of the cloister in the Church of St. Augustine in Narni, Italy, dated to the 15th century.

(5) Cloister of St. Augustine Church

Works cited:

Carroll, Maureen. Earthly Paradises: Ancient Gardens in History and Archaeology. London: British Museum Press, 2003. Pages 32-35.

·         Jashemski, Wilhemina F. “The Campanian Peristyle Garden.” In Ancient Roman Gardens. Edited by Lois Fern. Dombarton Oaks: Washington, DC. 1981. (Page 41)

Tuck, Courtney. Lecture, Narni, June 8, 2016.

Images Sources:
(1) http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/garden.html
(2) Taken by the author, June 11th.
(3) Taken by the author, June 11th.
(4) http://archsoc.westphal.drexel.edu/New/ArcSocISA5.html
(5) Taken by the author (June 8th, 2016)