An extraordinary discovery in an ancient city. Picture house for adults
Archaeologists have made a surprising discovery in an ancient city that was covered by the ash of Vesuvius years ago. It is a small house with well-preserved frescoes.
Pompeii is one of the most attractive places in southern Italy. The ancient city that emerged from volcanic ash in the 18th century delights and truly takes us on a journey back in time, thanks to its well-preserved rooms and frescoes. It can also evoke ambiguous feelings – after all, we can see plaster casts here – replicas of the bodies of its inhabitants who did not manage to escape.
From time to time, Pompeii reveals its unknown face, and this was the case this time. During research in the Insula dei casti Amanti, in the central district of the city, along Via dell’Abbondanza, a small building was discovered.
A house was discovered in Pompeii. There are erotic frescoes there
Scientists have discovered a small house that was buried under rubble and ash after the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. However, the intricate frescoes painted inside remained largely intact. According to the museum managers, the rich decoration of such a small house is particularly surprising.
Thanks to the discovery of a well-preserved fresco depicting the myth of Hippolytus and Phaedra, the small house was temporarily named Phaedra’s House.
Frescoes in vivid colors depict, among others: a sexual encounter between a satyr and a nymph, and a scantily clad Phaedra and her stepson Hippolytus. According to myth, a Cretan princess accused him of rape after he rejected her. Another fresco depicts gods believed to be Venus and Adonis.
High level of decorations
The owners of the Museum informed that the apartment surprises with the high level of wall decorations, which are in no way inferior to the larger and richer house of Painters at Work, with which it borders.
Sensual paintings on the walls are nothing new in Pompeii. A lupanar, an ancient brothel decorated with erotic frescoes, arouses a lot of emotions among visitors.
Pompeii keeps revealing its forgotten face to scientists. Last year, archaeologists discovered another house in the city with an adjacent bakery and a kind of “prison” for its employees.
