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Photo: via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0 it
The coastline was significantly altered by the eruption, but this large and luxurious villa used to stretch down to the sea in four terraces. Its seafront was about 250 m long. It is below you on your right as you leave the ticket office and head towards the audio guide kiosk. The villa contained a fine library of scrolls and, although these were badly carbonized, there is hope that modern technology will soon make it possible to read them without destroying them by opening them.
The Villa of the Papyri was an ancient Roman villa in Herculaneum, in what is now Ercolano, southern Italy. It is named after its unique library of papyrus scrolls, discovered in 1750. The Villa was considered to be one of the most luxurious houses in all of Herculaneum and in the Roman world. Its luxury is shown by its exquisite architecture and by the large number of outstanding works of art discovered, including frescoes, bronzes and marble sculpture which constitute the largest collection of Greek and Roman sculptures ever discovered in a single context.
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Terme del Foro
The male and female baths, which are next to each other, are well preserved. They were fed by a large well, which brought water from a depth of 8.25 m, heated by a large furnace and distributed around the baths by a network of pipes that also served to provide central heating.
This is one of the oldest properties so far discovered on the site. Excavations suggest that, at various times, the upper floor was rented out and the courtyard was sold off. What remains now is a large roofed and elegantly decorated atrium with a few small rooms around it.
The Augustales were an order of Roman priests responsible for attending to the maintenance of the cult of Augustus, who was considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire. The building consists of one large, well-decorated roofed room.
Casa di Nettuno ed Anfitrite
Worth the visit for its stunning mosaics alone, particularly that of Neptune and Amphitrite (a sea goddess and wife of Poseidon), after which the house is named.
Casa del Bel Cortile
The attractive courtyard is said to resemble an Italian medieval courtyard more than a Roman building. In a display case there are two skeletons fused with volcanic rock.
This was another luxurious waterfront dwelling.