From 12 August the ancient ‘hot table’ of Pompeii opens to the public

The thermopoly of Regio V, the ancient ‘hot table’, unearthed during the latest excavations in an area of ​​the city buried by the Vesuvius lava, never before investigated, opens to the public from 12 August in the archaeological park of Pompeii. Extraordinary visits to the construction site of the house of Orion and the house of the Garden.

Thermopolis, where drinks and hot foods were served, as the name of Greek origin indicates, preserved in large dolia (jars) embedded in the masonry counter, were very common in the Roman world, where it was customary for the lower middle class to consume prandium (the meal) outside the home. Although in Pompeii alone there are at least eighty of them, the thermopoly of the Regio V stands out for the exceptional decoration of the painted counter, with the image of the Nereid astride a hippocampus and still life scenes, and of animals in particular, probably prepared and sold on the premises. The commercial plant had emerged at two different times. It had only been partially investigated in 2019, during the interventions of the Great Pompeii Project for the safety and consolidation of the historical excavation fronts. Considering the exceptional nature of the decorations and in order to restore the complete configuration of the venue – located in the clearing at the intersection between the vicolo delle Nozze d’Argento and the vicolo dei Balconi – in 2020 it was decided to prepare a further intervention aimed at completing the excavation, to the restoration of the rooms and of the present decorations. At the same time, a new wooden roof was built to protect the painted counter, and the ancient meniano (balcony) cantilevered, on which part of the original cocciopesto flooring found during the excavation was placed. the thermopoly was previewed by the Director General of the Museums, Massimo Osanna under whose scientific direction the excavations were conducted and the Director General of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, at the end of the restoration and enhancement works that allowed make it accessible, safely, to the public. Visits will be possible every day from 12.00 to 19.00 (last entrance at 18.30), with access from via di Nola and exit from the vicolo delle Nozze d’Argento. No reservation is required. At the same time as the Thermopoly visit, extraordinary visits will also be provided to the construction site of the Orion house and the Garden – with limited access and differentiated routes for a guided visit in safety – where the refurbishment works are underway in view of the definitive restoration and roofing interventions. preparatory to the permanent opening of the entire area. Both residences, with their extraordinary decorations, emerged and were made safe during the excavations of the Regio V, connected to the wider intervention to make the excavation fronts safe as envisaged by the Great Pompeii project. Visits will be possible every day from 16.00 to 19.00 (last admission at 18.30). Access is provided every 20 minutes, for groups of up to 5 people at a time accompanied by Park staff. Entrance from via di Nola and exit from the vicolo delle Nozze d’Argento. Free access is subject to availability and reservations are recommended on the website www.ticketone.it. The house of Orione takes its name from the floor mosaic present in an environment of the domus, and depicting one of the most refined and unpublished iconographies found in Pompeii, that of the myth of Orion. The scene represents the catasterism of the hero Orion, or rather his transformation into a constellation, and is probably connected to that of a second mosaic in the house. Both mosaics denote a considerable cultural level and probable relations of the owner with the eastern Mediterranean world, from which they could originate.The dwelling had already been intercepted during the nineteenth-century excavations, between 1891 and 1893 and in 2017 it was entirely brought to light. It features a structure with a central atrium, surrounded by rooms decorated with precious 1st style paintings and floor mosaics. It is very likely that the house deliberately kept, in the representative spaces, this oldest decoration in the I style which, in other Pompeian residences, had frequently been replaced by more modern decorations. At the time of the eruption in 79 AD the house was being renovated. The current excavations have made it possible to identify several tunnels, practiced in the past before the official excavations, in order to recover precious objects, which unfortunately compromised the structure of the house in several places. The Garden House, so-called for the presence of a garden with a frescoed portico, is known for the discovery of the charcoal inscription that changes the date of the eruption. The beautiful room of megalographies overlooks the portico, depicting Venus in a square with a male figure (Paris or perhaps Adonis) and Eros, and in another Venus in the act of fishing, together with Eros. Also in the same room there is a very refined female portrait, probably dominating it. The skeletons room overlooks the atrium, where the remains of a dozen individuals who took refuge here in a vain attempt to save themselves were found, and whose remains are the subject of DNA study and analysis. In some service areas, however, a wooden box was found containing female jewelery and amulets against bad luck, probably belonging to one of the victims found in the house and now exhibited in the Antiquarium of Pompeii.“I am very pleased to see the thermopoly open to the public at the end of timely restoration work on the building found in the new excavations of the Regio V – declares Massimo Osanna, Director General of the Museums – To allow its public use it was necessary to proceed with the safety of the structures, the restoration of the delicate frescoes and guaranteeing the protection of the whole environment with adequate roofing. Visitors who are returning to crowd the streets of the ancient city are given a new experience of visiting in a completely new area. The discovery, which took place as part of a systematic intervention to make the excavation fronts safe, in order to prevent the threat of hydrogeological instability on the structures already in light, constituted a unique opportunity for interdisciplinary research that led to new acquisitions on the diet and the daily life of the Pompeians Thanks to the whole team who contributed to the extraordinary sc operta, the subsequent research and the beautiful fruition project “.” The opening of the thermopolium is in full continuity with the approach adopted by the Great Pompeii Project under the direction of Massimo Osanna, whom I thank together with the whole team for the work exceptional that was carried out – adds the Director General of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, Gabriel Zuchtriegel – It is an integrated approach between conservation, research and use, which with the opening to the public reaches its fulfillment, while we are working on the design of the restoration of the house of Orion and the house of the Garden. The excavation and restoration project of the thermopolium, which started from the needs of protection and safety of the excavation fronts, led to extraordinary discoveries that help us to better understand the approximately eighty thermopolias already known in Pompeii. With the accompanied visits to the houses still to be restored, we want to raise public awareness of the fact that Pompeii is a large construction site where research, conservation and restoration continue on the basis of innovation and collaboration with important national and international research institutions “.