Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
inward- facing design (for maximum privacy) to the light-filled atrium (the focal point of
domestic life) and the ornamental peristyle (colonnaded garden courtyard). The finest vil-
las were adorned with whimsical mythological frescoes, stunningly exemplified at the
Villa dei Misteri, as well as at the sprawling Villa Oplontis, located in the nearby town of
Torre Annunziata.
ARCHITECTURE SPEAK: 101
Do you know your transept from your triclinium? Demystify some common architectural terms with
the following bite-size list:
Apse
Usually a large recess or niche built on a semicircular or polygonal ground plan and vaulted with
a half dome. In a church or temple, it may include an altar.
Baldachin (Baldacchino)
A permanent, often elaborately decorated canopy of wood or stone above
an altar, throne, pulpit or statue.
Balustrade
A stone railing formed of a row of posts (called balusters) topped by a continuous coping,
and commonly flanking baroque stairs, balconies and terraces.
Impluvium
A small, ornamental pool, often used as the centrepiece of atriums in ancient Roman
houses.
Latrine
A Roman-era public convenience, lined with rows of toilet seats and often adorned with fres-
coes and marble.
Narthex
A portico or lobby at the front of an early Christian church or basilica.
Necropolis
Burial ground outside the city walls in antiquity and the early Christian era.
Oratory
A small room or chapel in a church reserved for private prayer.
Transept
A section of a church running at right angles to the main body of the church.
Triclinium
The dining room in a Roman house.
Medieval Icons
Following on from the Byzantine style and its mosaic-encrusted churches was
Romanesque, a style that found four regional forms in Italy: Lombard, Pisan, Florentine
and Sicilian Norman. All displayed an emphasis on width and the horizontal lines of a
building rather than height, and featured church groups with
campanili
(bell towers) and
baptisteries that were separate to the church. Surfacing in the 11th century, the Sicilian
