Naples & Campania - Southern Italy - page 143

Just to the east, Via dell'Anfiteatro (which becomes Vico Meridionale) is where you'll
find Casa del Menandro. One of Pompeii's grander homes, its drawcards include an eleg-
ant peristyle (colonnaded garden) and a striking mosaic floor in the caldarium .
Terme Stabiane & Casa della Venere in Conchiglia
As it shoots eastward, Via Marina becomes Via dell'Abbondanza (Street of Abundance).
Lined with ancient shops, this was the city's main thoroughfare and where you'll find the
Terme Stabiane MAP GOOGLE MAP , a typical 2nd-century-BC bath complex. Entering from the
vestibule, bathers would stop off in the vaulted apodyterium before passing through to the
tepidarium and caldarium . Particularly impressive is the stuccoed vault in the men's chan-
ging room, complete with whimsical images of putti (winged babies) and nymphs.
Towards the northeastern end of Via dell'Abbondanza, Casa della Venere in Conchiglia MAP
GOOGLE MAP (House of the Venus Marina) has recovered well from the WWII bomb that damaged
it in 1943. Although unexceptional from the outside, it houses a gorgeous peristyle that
looks onto a small, manicured garden. And it's here in the garden that you'll find the strik-
ing Venus fresco after which the house is named.
Anfiteatro
Just southeast of the Casa della Venere in Conchiglia, gladiatorial battles thrilled up to
20,000 spectators at the grassy anfiteatro MAP GOOGLE MAP (amphitheatre) . Built in 70 BC, it's
the oldest known Roman amphitheatre in existence. Over the way, lithe ancients kept fit at
the Grande Palestra MAP GOOGLE MAP , an athletics field with an impressive portico dating to
the Augustan period. At its centre lie the remains of a swimming pool.
Casa del Fauno
From the Grande Palestra, backtrack along Via dell'Abbondanza and turn right into Via
Stabiana to view some of Pompeii's grandest houses. Turn left into Via della Fortuna and
then right down Via del Labirinto to get to Vicolo del Mercurio and the entrance to Casa del
Fauno MAP GOOGLE MAP (House of the Faun; Via Stabiana) , Pompeii's largest private house. Cover-
ing an entire insula (city block) and boasting two atria at its front end (humbler homes had
one), it is named after the delicate bronze statue in the impluvium (rainwater pool). It was
here that early excavators found Pompeii's greatest mosaics, most of which are now in
Naples' Museo Archeologico Nazionale ( Click here ) . Valuable on-site remainders include
a beautiful, geometrically patterned marble floor.
A couple of blocks away, the Casa del Poeta Tragico MAP GOOGLE MAP (House of the Tragic Poet)
features one of the world's first 'Beware of the Dog' ( Cave Canem ) warnings. To the
north, the currently closed Casa dei Vettii MAP

GOOGLE MAP on Via di Mercurio is home to a