House of the Ship Europa is located on the Via di
Castricio road. The house was first excavated between 1951 and 1961,
and then again in 1971, 1973 and 1975. House of the Ship Europa got its
name from graffiti, depicting a ship with the word "Europe"
apparently as an allusion to mythical Europe abducted by the Greek
god Zeus in the guise of a bull. The image was discovered in 1957.
In general, very few murals remain in this house. Apparently they
were damaged during the eruption. Archaeologists couldn't save colorful
murals. Only in some parts of the house were some
fragments left. Interestingly, there is a press for squeezing out
olive oil or wine.
The corridor (a), which opens from the
south side of Via di Castricio, is decorated with frescoes in the
first style in the form of rows of painted plastering blocks
imitating marble cladding. The upper zone is separated from the
middle zone by a wide stucco cornice. Another corridor leads
directly to the peristyle or inner garden (b), which is surrounded
on three sides by columns. The colonnade is supported by brick
columns at the corners. On the western side there is a central brick
pillar, and on the north and south sides there are corrugated
masonry columns and covered with plaster.
Interesting in the
House of the Ship Europe is a small garden. Archaeologists were
able to identify the types of plants that once did not grow here by
the remnants of the roots in the ground. Here they grew beans,
onions, cabbage, grapes, cherries, peaches and lemons. All these
plants were used as medicines for various diseases. Also here 28 terracotta vases were put along the wall,
where seeds were germinated and grown. In the far
corner of the garden were stalls for animals.