Villa of Diomedes

Villa of Diomedes was behind the Herculaneum Gate on the Herculaneum road, which led to the neighboring Herculaneum. On the ground floor of the Villa of Diomedes were accommodated around the atrium and peristyle. There was also a terrace that led to a large park that surrounded Villa of Diomedes. From here there was a beautiful view of the sea, which splashed very close in antiquity. In the depths of the garden a pool was dug, next to it was a small terrace where the family dined together.

The front of the Villa of Diomedes forms a sharp corner with the street. The orientation of the building is determined by the level of the cliff that passes through the middle of the chic villa, dividing the building into two parts. The front part of the mansion is one meter higher than the street level, and the rear part of the villa is much lower.

Villa of Diomedes was dug up in 1771-74 and named after Arria of Diomedes, whose tomb was found opposite a rich residence. In the very Villa of Diomedes were found the remains of 20 bodies of victims of the volcanic eruption. Most of them (18 people), including women and children, died in the wine cellar of the Villa, where they tried to wait out the eruption. Two others apparently realized that they had to run away and tried to flee through the garden. They only reached the door leading to the garden and to the sea. One of the victims was found with a gold ring, a silver key and 1356 sesterces ie a very large sum for any resident of Pompeii. It was mostly likely the owner of the mansion.

Before entering the villa of Diomedes was a porch. The entrance (a) opens directly into the inner peristyle - the home yard (b), in the middle of which a small garden was laid out. To the right of the entrance is a staircase that leads to the lower level of the mansion.

To the left of the entrance on the east side of the peristyle there is a small triangular courtyard (c) containing a small pool. In the northwestern corner of the courtyard is the hearth, on which a teapot and several pots were found. The back wall of the pool was originally decorated with a garden scene, similar to the gardens in the frigidarium (room with cold water in the bath) of two old public baths. Above the tank was a roof supported by two columns, and on the other two sides of the courtyard there are small columns.

Private bath room is extremely rich in decoration. It consists of apoditerium (d) (dressing room), tepidarium (e) (warm room in the bath) and caldarium (f) (hot room in the bath), from which the tepidarium was heated using a hole in the wall. Caldarium has a hollow floor and walls and is heated by hot air from the kitchen (g). In the caldarium, as in public baths, there is a swimming pool and a semi-circular niche for a labrum or a swimming pool.

In the southeastern corner of the peristyle of Villa of Diomedes there is a flight of stairs leading to the garden, which has not yet been fully investigated by archaeologists. To the west of it is a semi-circular cubmoy room (i), built in a garden. He had three large windows and was separated from the rest of the house by a hallway (h). A cubiculum or bedroom is marked by a niche for a bed and a wash basin. It is very similar to the one that is located in the Villa Pliny in Laurentum. The final room on the south side of the peristyle is a small cubiculum that connects on the west side with the winter triclinium (n) or the place where the Romans dined.

On the western side of the peristyle there is a tablinum (j), the main bedroom of Villa of Diomedes, which can be closed behind. Behind the bedroom was originally a colonnade, which later turned into a corridor (k) with rooms at both ends. Behind this colonnade was a wide terrace (l), extending to the edge of the garden. With it was visible the embankment (o), which was built above the colonnade, which surrounded the large garden below. In the opposite corners of the embankment were two belvedere (p). Then a large rectangular room (m) was built on the terrace, dividing it into two parts. The stairs (s) give access to the bottom of the villa.

The garden of Villa of Diomedes, surrounded by a colonnade, was planted with trees. Their charred remains were found during archaeological excavations. In the middle was built summer triclinium (r), which was protected by a pergola. To the east of Triclinaria there was a fish pond (q) with a beautiful fountain.