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10 Interesting Facts about Virgil

As you know, Italy is a magical place to visit. Here you will find different places that will leave you breathless but also many key cultural sights that tell the story of this beautiful country.

But it doesn’t end here!

Italy is full of historical figures that have left their mark over time and today I want to tell you something about the most famous poet of Rome.

Let’s find out everything there is to know, with the top 10聽 interesting facts about Virgil.

1. Virgil is famous for 3 main works

Publio Virgilio Marone by Anonimo – Wikimedia Commons

Publius Virgil Marone also known as Virgil, was born on October 15, 70 B.C. in a small town known as Pietole, near Mantua. He studied in Cremona and Milan but also in Rome under the guidance of Epidio. Later he moved to Naples to study at the Sirone School.

His main works written between 40 and 19 BC are:

1. Bucolics
2. Georgics
3. Aeneid

Virgil died in Brindisi on September 21, 19 BC after a trip to Greece, most likely due to sunstroke.

2. A rare mosaic exists depicting Virgil

Virgil’s mosaic by David Bjorgen – Wikimedia Commons

Elio Donato (a Roman grammarian of the fourth century) described Virgil as a man “of large body and height, with a brown complexion and rough features”.

In 1896 among the ruins of a Roman house known as “Maison de l’Arsenal” in Tunisia, archaeologists discovered a beautiful mosaic.

The mosaic depicts Virgil in the act of writing the Aeneid flanked by two muses: Melpomene and Clio.

You will find this unique evidence about Virgil in the Bardo Museum of Tunis. Finally and you will be able to see how he really was!

The museum is open from 16/09聽 to聽 30/05: from 9:30聽 to聽 16:30. The ticket costs 鈧� 3.50

You will find all the information about the museum

You can take a virtual tour of the museum! Click !

3. Virgil’s house still stands in Brindisi, Apulia

Virgil’s House by Zappuddu – Wikimedia Commons

You know very well that the Via Appia is the street that in ancient times connected Rome with the East.

Right along this road, near Brindisi, you will find Virgil’s house. How can you recognize it? Simple! His house is right behind the “Brindisi Column“, so you can’t go wrong!

The house is incorporated into a private building that you can only visit on certain undefined days. But outside you will find a marble plaque commemorating the great poet Virgil.

Virgil’s house is located in via regina margherita (brindisi), You will find more information

4. You can still visit Virgil’s mausoleum

The mausoleum by Armando Mancini – Wikimedia Commons

Behind the Church of Santa Maria di Piedigrotta in Mergellina, you can admire Virgil’s funerary mausoleum.

The structure has a cylindrical drum with a quadrangular base, a square-shaped funerary cell with a barrel vault. You will find different niches and in a very large niche on the wall, and there is a bust of Virgil sitting on a column, a tribute gifted by the students of the Ohio Academy in 1931.

The mausoleum is open every day from 10:00 to 14:50 during the winter months. Admission is always free!

You will find all the information about it on the !

5. Famous Italian poet Dante Alighieri strongly admired Virgil

The Divine Comedy by Fivedit – Wikimedia Commons

Virgil was a great example for Dante Alighieri, who appreciated and studied him very much. Virgil’s Aeneid contributed to Dante’s choices and provided many elements of inspiration both for places and mythological figures. In the Divine Comedy, published in 1320, Virgil finds himself in the Limbo and becomes Dante’s guide thanks to Beatrice.

6. An entire museum is dedicated to Virgil

The museum by Andes – Wikimedia Commons

In Pietole, Virgilio’s hometown, you will find a museum dedicated to him. Inside the museum, you will admire many finds from the Roman period. Different funerary vessels, jars and coins but also several collections on display.

But once in the museum, you will find several collections and works by different artists. At the moment you will find exposed those of Ugo Celada.

The Museum is located in via Parma 34 (Borgo Virgilio) and is open to the public on Wednesdays and Fridays from 14.00 to 19.00. You can book a tour by calling n. 0376/283051.

You will find more information !

7.Virgil is commemorated in a New York subway station

Virgil’s quote by B. Tobias – Pinterest

No day will erase you from the memory of time

This quote belongs to the IX book of the Aeneid where Euryalus and Nisus (two young warriors symbols of beauty and eternal friendship) die during the escape from Troy. The phrase stands out on the wall of the Museum dedicated to the victims of聽 September 11, 2001. You will find it exactly near the deposit of the unidentified remains known as “Remains Depository”.

The museum is open from 9:30 AM-21:00 PM. Last entry time is 18:00 PM.

You will find all the information about the museum

8. Virgil’s Aeneid was of political power to Emperor Augustus

Illustration by Biblioteca Houghton – Wikimedia Commons

The Aeneid is the most representative work of Virgil. The Latin epic poem includes 12 books, which tell the myth of Aeneas escaped from Troy to land on the coasts of Lazio, to establish a new city.

Virgilio gave life to “the myth about the foundation of Rome” in the middle of the Augustan age. During this period Emperor Augustus needed to reaffirm the values and traditions of the city after the “crisis of the Roman Republic“.

Thanks to this poem that celebrates Rome, the Julii family claimed to descend from Enea’s son, Ascanio Iulo. In this way, the power of Augustus became legitimized as a direct descendant of the founders of Rome.

According to the tradition, Virgil asked to burn the Aeneid because it was incomplete. After Virgil’s death, August asked Vario Rufo and Plozio Tucca to edit the posthumous publication.

9. The hall of Dido聽by Scipione Borghese is dedicated to Virgil

The hall of Dido by Sonse – Wikimedia Commons

Over time, Cardinal Scipione Borghese collected extraordinary paintings but also various works of art and at the end of the seventeenth century, he had more than 800 paintings preserved in the Galleria Borghese in Rome.

In this beautiful gallery, you will find聽 “the hall of Dido” dedicated to Virgil.

According to the Aeneid, after a violent storm, Enea arrived in Carthage, hosted by the founder and first queen Dido. At the time of his departure, Dido killed herself with a sword, prophesying enmity between the heirs of Aeneas and Carthage.

In 鈥�the hall of Dido鈥� you can admire the beautiful paintings that decorate the vault and represent the scenes taken from Virgil’s Aeneid:

1. The Suicide of Didone;
2. Aeneas escaping from Troy;
3. Aeneas and Acate in front of Dido;
4. The Banquet;
5. Mercury urging Aeneas to leave Carthage.

Also here in the Galleria Borghese, you can admire the beautiful statue of Bernini which depicts Aeneas, Anchises and Ascanio.

The scene represents the escape of Aeneas, Anchises and Ascanio from Troy. Aeneas carries on his shoulders his old father Anchises who carries the vase containing the ashes of the ancestors. But Ascanio, instead olds the eternal fire kept in the temple of Vesta.

The statue is a must-see! You will notice how Bernini represented the age difference between the three men.

This is the if you need more info! The Gallery is open from Tuesday to Sunday (9.00 to 19.00 )

From the Termini station Get the Metro A underground and stop to Spagna or Barberini

10. Mantua Park is dedicated to Virgil

Virgil’s Park by FranzK – Wikimedia Commons

In the heart of Mantua, the French General De Miollis dedicate a vast green area to Virgil with a beautiful statue. But later in 1797, the Mayor of Mantua projected the Virgilian Amphitheater and moved Virgil’s statue into the town hall.

Nowadays you can admire many worthwhile performances in this beautiful amphitheatre surrounded by a green park.

The park is located in Piazza Virgiliana in Mantua. Walk from the Station S. Antonio M.no聽 and in 10 minutes you will arrive there!