HOUSE OF VENUS - POMPEII

The focal point of this house is the peristyle, which is sumptuously decorated with painted garden features (fountains, hedges, birds, flowers, sculptures). The most impressive painting of all is on the rear wall: it portrays a naked Venus with a head of curly hair and resplendent with gold jewels, sailing in a shell with billowing sails accompanied by a retinue of cupids. From an artistic point of view the painting is of poor quality, but its colours are well arranged and the overall effect is highly dramatic.

 

Why do not you arrange with us an amazing day in the Gulf of Naples - a private tour (just for you) with a comfortable limousine or minivan with driver and an English-speaking tour guide? We have organized for you a great guided tour to Naples-Pompeii-Sorrento-Amalfi Coast (Positano). Contact us by e-mail info@pompeii.org.uk for further info.

‘Garum’ was the name of a fish sauce which was a favourite throughout Pompeii and was prepared and sold in this small house on Via dell’Abbondanza. As a residues found in six sealed containers in the courtyard have not been yet analysed, it has so far been impossible to establish whether the garum produced here was the high quality type (garum excellens or garum flos flos) or some poorer variety. A large number of empty amphorae were stored in the back garden; they have just been cleaned and were ready to be filled by means of a funnel which was also found in the workshop. This is evidence that the garum from Pompeii was exported to many places throughout the Roma ... continue

(Apic. 4, 1, 1) Ingredients:

• 300 gr. homemade bread
• 50 gr. emmenthal
• 1 cucumber
• 1 celery stem
• 1 bunch pennyroyal
• 1 bunch pine-kernel
• 2 tbsp honey
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• 3 chicken livers
• 1 tbsp caper
• 1 egg’s yolk
• 3 anchovy
• Pepper to taste
• Salt to taste
• Icy water

Instructions:
-------------
Put in layer, inside a bowl, homemade bread soaked in water and vinegar and then squeezed, finely slic ... continue

Love was a common topic of conversation in Pompeii. Feelings, passions, poetic love, sex, homosexuality, prostitution and so forth were all part of daily life and not a source of prejudice. The concept of “obscenity” seems to have been unknown. Love and sex were considered earthly practices of a man’s life that were encouraged by the benevolence of Venus. The thousands of examples of graffiti found on the town’s walls are unequivocal proof of what the people of Pompeii thought about love and sex.