Stabiae, Oplontis and the Antiquarium of Boscoreale

An amazing journey into the Roman villas virtually unknown to mass tourism. This tour will lead you into one of the most extraordinary places in the archaeological area of Vesuvius: the villas at Stabiae, Oplontis and the museum in Boscoreale. Paradoxically, these locations see so small numbers of tourists, that it’s likely that we will be the only visitors on the day of our tour. It gives us unique opportunity to enjoy the fantastic interiors of Roman villas and some of the most interesting artifacts found in the area practically alone. We’ll visit the following sites located around Pompeii: – the Villas of St. Marco and Arianna at Stabiae – the so-called Villa of Poppea (attributed to Nero’s notorious second wife) at Oplontis – the Museum of Boscoreale On 24 August AD 79 Vesuvius destroyed not only Pompei and Herculaneum but all surrounding small villages and villas as well. The coast of the Gulf of Naples was known to be the “Miami” of ancient Rome because practically all land plots were bought by wealthy Romans to build sumptuous villas. These villas looked like palaces and were used as a summer retreat from noisy and overcrowded Rome. One of such places with many villas concentrated at one spot was the city called Stabiae. Stabiae was located just 5 Km south from Pompeii. Two enormous villas of unprecedented scale and luxury were first discovered here in 1749. They had very well preserved artifacts which were taken to the Royal Palace in Naples. The villas were brought to life again in the 1950s when archaeologists started long and strenuous works of restoration. Among other things, they carefully reconstructed walls, frescoes, garden, roofs, and mosaics. In Oplontis the so-called Villa of Poppea turned out to be a huge property of a high-status nobleman (or woman). It probably belonged to the Emperor’s Nero second wife. The remains and objects found on a smaller and modest farming villa specialized in wine production are located in Boscoreale (Villa Regina). Next, to the Villa, there is a museum called Antiquarium where all kinds of daily objects made of wood, metal, textiles are kept.