Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Pompeii, Herculaneum and the surround region. Among the more unsual items on display are shreds
of Roman fabric, egg shells from Pompeii, and a carbonised loaf of bread. At the time of writing,
getting here involved a 2km walk from Pompeii-Scavi-Villa dei Misteri Circumvesuviana station.
Contact the Pompeii tourist office for further details.
Opening times are standard: 8.30am to 7.30pm (last entry 6pm), April to October, and 8.30am to
5pm (last entry 3.30pm), November to March. All three sites are covered by a single
ticket
(adult/
reduced €5.50/2.75)
. The sites are also covered by a five-sites cumulative ticket (adult/reduced €20/
10), which also includes Pompei and Herculaneum.
Towards the northeastern end of Via dell'Abbondanza, Casa della Venere in Conchiglia
(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 (a
colonnade-fringed courtyard) that looks onto a small, manicured garden. And it's here in
the garden that you'll find the striking 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. Built in 70 BC, it's the oldest known Roman
amphitheatre in existence. Over the way, lithe ancients kept fit at the
Grande Palestra
,
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 (House of the Faun), Pompeii's largest private house. Covering an entire
insula
(city block) and boasting two atria at its front end (humbler homes had only one), it is
named after the delicate bronze statue in the
impluvium
(rain tank). It was here that early
excavators found Pompeii's greatest mosaics, most of which are now housed in Naples'
