The Grand Tour

Stu and I are members of the International Archaeological Society here in Naples. They do monthly tours to different archaeological sites around our area. Today we hit three lesser know sites that were also covered by Mt Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Oplontis, Stabia and Boscoreale.

The Villa Poppaea is a Roman villa situated between Naples and Sorrento, which dates from the early Imperial times.
The villa is a large structure situated in the Roman town of Oplontis (the modern Torre Annuziata) about ten meters below the modern level. It was owned by the Emperor Nero, and used by his second wife Poppaea Sabina, as her main residence when not in Rome. The archeological evidence suggests that at the time of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79, the villa was empty, being in the process of rebuilding and redecoration, possibly in the aftermath of the earthquake of 62. Nero had killed Poppaea in 65; according to Suetonius, by kicking her in the abdomen when she was in late pregnancy… Sounds like a real charmer that Nero…

The kitchen has a large masonry bench along its north side, with a brick-covered work surface, where food was cooked in terracotta or bronze pots resting on iron supports over the fire. In the part below there are small rooms with semicircular openings, to store wood.

The frescos decorating the walls are among the best preserved, both in form and in color, of all Imperial Roman frescoes; the roof of the building largely survived the eruption, thus affording protection from the elements. The frescoes are in the Pompeiian Second Style, with feigned architecture with windows that seem to open onto views or perspectives of Trompe-l’oeil colonnades, ambitious undertakings that, after Rome's demise, would not be equaled in Italy until the fifteenth century.

Plaster casts of wooden doors

The moasic floors were amazing! After all these years of disasters, weather and people they still look great!

Rumor has it that Emperor Nero was a big fan of the theater...so all through out the villa you'll see frescos of theater masks and what look like stage settings.

Another mask...

More floors...

Amphora - Ancient wine jugs...lots and lots of them!

The colors are absolutely amazing after all these years! I can only imagine what they would look like complete and new! Wow!

There were little detailed painings on every wall

Here is the pool or as they called it a bath...

More doors...

In the parking lot where the bus was we saw this feat of engineering...notice the wooden "support" beam in the middle...yeah, I'd park my car under that!

On to Stabia - Villa San Marco

One of the largest villas ever discovered inCampania, measuring more than 11,000 square meters. This villa has an atrium, a courtyard containing a pool, a triclinium (formal dining room) with views of the bay, and a colonnaded courtyard. There are also many other small rooms, a kitchen, and two internal gardens. Villa San Marco also has a private bath complex that is made up of a calibarium (hot and steamy room), tepidarium (warm room), and a frigidarium(a cold pool) The caldarium and the tepidarium opened the pores of the skin. The cold water of the frigidarium would close the pores. There would be a small pool of cold water or sometimes a large swimming pool. This villa is also important because it has provided us with beautiful frescoes, sculptures, mosaics, and architecture, which show styles and themes comparable to those found in Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Another kitchen

Stu sneaking down a narrow passageway

The last time I was here with my Dad a couple of years ago, they were just excavating this section.

A moasic by the pool

This is a sundial

A vase that was just repaired, wow, talk about a jigsaw puzzle!

Outside the Villa Arianna

Looks like wallpaper right? Nope, it's a fresco! Just amazing!

A moasic floor being put back together, yikes! Not sure if I have the patience to do that!

We stopped at this restaurant just past the entrance for Pompeii for lunch, the food was great!

As was the vino...

There we are, post lunch and ready for a nap, but no! We are off to Boscoreale...

This statue was right outside the restaurant...looks like a Roman warrior with a yawning gerbil on his head! Even up close, it didn't get any better! Too funny!

Boscoreale

We went into the Antiquarium Museum, this is a plaster cast of a pig that was found.

I think this is a dog...

A grind stone, in great shape!

Stu getting friendly with the locals!