Heliocaminus
Heliocaminus refers to a solar heated room, one example, the remains of which can still be seen, is found at the thermal complex of Hadrian's Villa at ancient Tivoli in Italy. The villa was the luxurious Roman residence of the Roman Emperor Hadrian (the years 117 to 138), which is said to have become a type of test bed or laboratory for architectural and artistic creativity, where technological and architectonical innovations were experimented with (MacDonald and Pinto, 2006).
The heliocaminus, a term based on Ancient Greek and Latin, (also translated as solar furnace), at Hardrian's villa it was a large circular room with a coffered dome roof, a central oculus and large south facing windows, it was heated through a combination of the passive solar gains and massive structure and a hot-air under floor heating system invented by the Romans. It was first identified by the use of the solar stove (Paribeni, 1922), then by Sudatio or underfloor air heated sauna (Verduchi, 1975), then by a heated swimming pool (Manderscheid, 1998).
Today Villa Adriana or Hadrian's Villa near Tivoli can still be visited as one of the best kept and most visited archaeological sites in Italy it has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999. It is found at the foot of the Tiburtine Hills the vast residential complex originally spread over around 120 hectares (about 300 acres) including the thermal baths, temples, barracks, theatres, gardens, fountains, nymphaeums and the villa itself, around 40 hectares are now open to the public.
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