After a week spent traveling around the Bay of Naples, I was still somewhat baffled by what I had seen at Pompeii, Herculaneum, and the Villa di Poppaea Sabina at Oplontis. To visit all these sites I’d ridden the Circumvesuviana, a privately owned train that runs around the base of Mount Vesuvius. At…
Tag: Herculaneum
The Secret Erotic Art of Pompeii and Herculaneum
On a fine afternoon in 1752, word reached King Charles III of Bourbon that his royal archeologist, Karl Weber, had discovered a treasure trove at Herculaneum. Sometime earlier, his excavation tunnels had brought to light the luxurious residence that would later be dubbed the Villa of the Papyri, however on that particular day…
PHOTO: Viridarium at Villa di Poppaea Sabina
Click on above photo to view it in large format: Viridarium at Villa di Poppaea Sabina in ancient Oplontis, now Torre Annunziata. This grand estate, which was completely covered by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD (the same eruption that destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum) was owned by the second wife of…
PHOTO: Frescoes at Villa di Poppaea Sabina in Torre Annunziata, Italy
Click on above photo to view it in large format: Frescoes at Villa di Poppaea Sabina in ancient Oplontis, now known as Torre Annunziata, Italy. Here the Oecus (main living room of a Roman house) scene depicts a false door leading to sanctuary dedicated to Apollo and family ancestors, where a sacrificial tripod…
The Ruins of Herculaneum – A Snapshot of Agony
In the early afternoon of August 24 in A.D. 79, more than 300 residents of Herculaneum, Rome fled to the shores of the Mediterranean. Some lingered on the beach, others huddled inside seafront boathouses, and all were terrified. For the past several days the earth had been rocked by tremors. Earthquakes were a…
PHOTO: Floor Mosaic of the Battle Between Alexander and Darius from Pompeii, Italy
Click on above photo to view it in large format: Floor mosaic of the Battle between Alexander and Darius from Pompeii hangs prominently in the National Museum of Archeology in Naples, Italy. The mosaic masterpiece, which dating from around 100 BC, originally decorated the House of the Faun in Pompeii, one of the…
