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House of the Lovers

Address: Insula 10
Area: 431 square meters
Rooms: 17

At the House of the Lovers there is a fairly simple entrance from Vicolo delle Citariista Street. The mansion’s building was excavated from March to May 1933. The name of the House of Lovers comes from the fact that on one of the panels of the portico an inscription was found that says: "lovers like bees make life sweet like honey" ('Amantes ut apes vitam mellitam exigunt').

The walls of the corridor (a) are decorated with frescoes in the second style with black panels, fringed with yellow over a purple frieze. Above the black panels is the upper area, painted in red with imitating marble columns. A short corridor leads to a rectangular atrium - living room (b), which has a central indoor pool. The atrium has rooms on three sides with a garden area in the east. It is decorated with frescoes in the fourth style with red panels on a black background over the bottom black decorative frieze. The panels include central medallions with images of landscapes and still lifes. The ala (d) in the center of the south side of the atrium is decorated with frescoes in the fourth style with white panels on a red background above the lower black frieze. Each white panel contains a small framed landscape in its center, but, unfortunately, these landscapes have deteriorated so much that they are no longer recognizable.

On either side of the ala - room or kubula (c). The room on the east side is decorated with frescoes in the fourth style with white panels separated by architectural elements above the bottom black frieze. The room on the west side of Ala has simple walls covered with plaster and may have been used as a storeroom. The third cubulum (c), located on the western side of the atrium, directly north of the entrance from the corridor, is decorated with fourth-style frescoes with alternating panels of red and yellow colors above the lower decorative black frieze. The panels contain small images of the life of birds and fruits.

In the southwest corner of the atrium of the House of the Lovers, a staircase leads to the upper floor. The second floor is partially preserved in the House of lovers, but it is usually closed for tourists. Sometimes it is possible to get into some buildings in Pompeii if you wear out among students of archeologists or historians. If the language and age allow it, we strongly advise you to use this chance.

Next to these stairs is the service room (e) with roughly plastered walls. Room (f) is a store (Regio I, Insula 10, 10), which opens onto Via Piccolista with direct access to the atrium of the house. Triclin (g) opens from the northeast corner of the atrium through a narrow doorway. The triclinium (personal office), like the atrium, opens onto the peristyle (h) to the east. The room is framed in a fourth style with alternating panels of yellow and blue framed by architectural motifs over a black decorative frieze. The blue panels contain large mythological scenes; on the southern wall is the very faded scene of Ariadne and Dionysus, and on the western wall is the equally faded painting of Dido. The scene on the north wall was too dull to recognize. The vaulted ceiling is also decorated with frescoes in the fourth style on a white background.