La Villa di Anteros, anche detta del Fauno, in località Cappella S. Marco, fu la prima delle ville stabiane ad essere indagata: fu infatti scavata già a partire dal 1749, sotto la direzione di K. Weber e R.J. d’Alcubierre.
L’ambiente più interessante è il larario nel peristilio piccolo nel quale si rinvennero un busto di donna e una piccola ara di terracotta, sopra al quale era un’iscrizione di dedica ai Lari e alla Famiglia da parte di Anteros ed Heracleo, che plausibilmente donarono l’ara stessa
May 16, 2023 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
New discovery: two skeletons found beneath a collapsed wall in #Pompeii.
Turmoil, confusion, attempted escapes and, in the meantime, an earthquake, showers of pumice, volcanic ash and hot gases.
This was the inferno of the eruption of AD 79, the living hell in which the inhabitants of the ancient city of Pompeii found themselves, including the two victims whose skeletons were recently discovered during the excavation of the insula of the House of the Chaste Lovers.
May 11, 2023 • 10 tweets • 7 min read
The recently restored House of the Vettii is one of the most famous houses in Pompeii renowned for its vibrant and exquisite frescoes and its grand architecture including an ornately decorated garden but here are some things you may not know about it and details to look out for.
The house was discovered in 1894 by the then director of the excavations in Pompeii, Giulio de Petra, who made the novel decision to reconstruct the roofs and retain the frescoes within the house rather than prise them from the walls and display them in the Museum in Naples.
Aug 6, 2022 • 13 tweets • 10 min read
Nuove scoperte a #Pompei.
La vita immobile di Pompei che riaffiora alla luce: ultimi istanti di vita fotografati negli arredi sconquassati dall’eruzione del 79 d.C.
Piatti, vasi, anfore, oggetti in vetro e terracotta lasciati in bauli e armadi, abbandonati frettolosamente durante la catastrofe e recuperati oggi con gli strumenti dello scavo stratigrafico.
Aug 4, 2022 • 6 tweets • 2 min read
Comune e Parco Archeologico insieme per lo sviluppo turistico-economico di Pompei e dell’intero territorio vesuviano.
Siglato questa mattina il patto tra il Sindaco Carmine Lo Sapio e il Direttore Generale @GZuchtriegel. ✍️
“Si tratta di un accordo storico – tiene a precisare il primo cittadino Carmine Lo Sapio - nessun sindaco era mai riuscito ad unire le sinergie dei due enti, sempre distanti e divisi, per lo sviluppo turistico ed economico della città”.
Mar 24, 2022 • 12 tweets • 8 min read
Villa Arianna: The villa was named after a large mythological fresco on the far wall of the triclinium, and the excavations conducted by the Swiss engineer Karl Weber between 1757 and 1762 almost completely unearthed it.
At the time, the excavation method consisted in a series of underground explorations aimed at recovering objects deemed worthy, as opposed to a survey of the whole architectural context.
Mar 31, 2021 • 11 tweets • 8 min read
Most of the urban area in #Pompeii consisted in private households. Therefore, the city provides an excellent vantage point to learn more about Roman housing and its evolution over time.
The upper classes mainly lived in #domus, large houses sometimes covering an area of about 3,000 sq. m. The domus were usually based on the same main structure. The front door led into the #atrium, a large central hall open at the roof.
Ph. Luigi Spina📷
The Archaeological Park of Pompeii and the Public Prosecutor’s Office of Torre Annunziata announce the discovery of an extraordinary find, emerged intact from the excavation of the suburban villa of Civita Giuliana, beyond the walls to the north of the ancient city of Pompeii.
Feb 26, 2021 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
As part of our collaboration with @SerpentineUK, this week we are hosting a special, week-long screening of Rezaire's feature-length film ‘Mamelles Ancestrales’ until 3 March 2021
The video is accompanied by a selection of video stills which will continue to be displayed following the screening period, owing to the archaeological connections between this film and the context of Pompeii Commitment.
Dec 28, 2020 • 10 tweets • 6 min read
Thermopolium of Regio V, one of the snack bars at Pompeii, with an image of a Nereid riding a sea-horse, which had previously been partially excavated in 2019, re-emerges in its entirety, with other decorative still lifes, food residues, animal bones and victims of the eruption.
The commercial structure had only been partially studied in 2019, during the interventions of the Great Pompeii Project aimed at stabilising and consolidating the historic excavation fronts.
Nov 24, 2020 • 10 tweets • 9 min read
In light of the discovery of the two bodies at the villa at Civita Giuliana, we look at the process involved in excavating, recording & casting them.
Volcanic ash from the eruption compacted & hardened around everything it covered. It’s in this layer of ash that voids are found.
Scraping the surface of the ash reveals a small hole indicating a void is beneath.
The voids are created in the ash as organic material decomposes over time leaving a complete mould in the form of what was once inside: in this case the forms of 2 humans lying in supine positions.
Nov 21, 2020 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
What the writer Luigi Settembrini defined as “the pain of death that takes on body and form” once again takes shape in #Pompeii, in the form of men who lost their lives during the eruption, the traces of whose death throes have remained imprinted in the ash for 2000 years.
During excavations at Civita Giuliana, around 700 metres northwest of Pompeii, in the area of the suburban villa where in 2017 the servile part had been discovered along with the stable containing the remains of three harnessed horses, 2 skeletons of individuals have been found
Nov 17, 2020 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
Pompeii may be temporarily closed but it is possible to visit the Stabian Baths virtually. The main entrance is on the via dell’Abbondanza and passing through the foyer, where in Roman times you may have had to pay an admission fee, you enter into a large colonnaded courtyard.
Opposite is the entrance to the women’s bath complex. On the left are a swimming pool and a room for changing and cleaning after exercise in the courtyard’s gymnasium that is decorated with a painted stucco relief. Following the portico to the right we enter the men’s baths.
Nov 12, 2020 • 5 tweets • 3 min read
With just the façade of this house excavated in 1913, we still only have a tantalising glimpse as to its owner: M. Fabius Ululitremulus. He owned a fullonica (tannery) and the playful and brightly coloured chess board decoration may hint at his sense of fun. #ThrowbackThursday
There is a graffito on the façade and it is a word play on the first line of Aeneid: ‘Fullones ululamque cano, non arma virumque’ (translation: I sing of fullers and an owl, not of arms and a man). The word for owl in Latin is ‘ulula’ so it is a pun on Ululitremulus’ name.
Nov 5, 2020 • 10 tweets • 8 min read
The Forum in Pompeii, the civic centre of the ancient city, is instantly recognisable with its large open space surrounded by temples, civic buildings and market places but here are some things you may not know about it…
The Forum of Pompeii was one of the great archaeological discoveries made during French rule in the early 19th century. Excavations began in the south by the Basilica in 1812 but only on May 22nd 1813 was the area officially identified as the Forum.
Oct 30, 2020 • 7 tweets • 6 min read
Just as in Roman times, this time of year sees the harvest of grapes in the vineyards of #Pompeii for wine production. To celebrate we will take you from the ‘harvest to the hangover’ through the archaeological evidence.
A fresco from the House of Centenary shows how widespread grape growing was. The slopes of Vesuvius are covered in a lattice of wooden vine frames called ‘vitis compluviata’. Meanwhile, Bacchus (God of wine) in his grape suit pours a libation & his leopard laps up the stray drops