On December 23 the Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni was in Pompeii to inuagurate part of the House of the Vettii, which is reopened to the public after approximately ten years.
Gentiloni was welcomed in the excavations by the General Director Massimo Osanna and the Director of the Great Pompeii project Luigi Curatoli, together with the Minister of cultural activities and tourism, Dario Franceschini. The Italian Prime Minister said that: “Pompeii is a wonderful city, very well preserved, with the presence of so many visitors and an atmosphere that makes us feel proud and privileged to be Italian. But we can do more to exploit the potential of this area. You could also visit Pompeii for several days, due to better accommodation in the area, and it's not just a dream but the reality of a tourism that is improved”. Franceschini took the opportunity to emphasize that in three years the Great Pompeii Project eii has improved the most important archaeological site in Italy. And it will be further improved with other projects like the perimeter lighting, the wifi coverage and the site surveillance. The story of the restoration of the House of the Vettii was a mixture of bureaucracy and technical difficulties which have often blocked its fruition. In 2009 (when there wasn’t the Great Pompeii Project) they were contracted out restoration works for 548,000 euros. Rebuilt a first cover, there was a first partial opening, then the Higher Institute for the preservation and restoration (Iscr) - which since 1996 takes care of the architectural complex, but also the decorations and the furnishings - highlighted the need to carry out a radical intervention of securing and restoration and domus was permanently closed. In the house they were found near the safe two bronze seals: "A. Vetti Restituti and A. Vetti Convivaes". So was given the assignment of the name of the house to a family of freedmen, that were freed slaves and they became rich thanks to the trade. The famous fresco of Priapus with a giant phallus on the right side of the entrance vestibule was used to ward off the evil eye from the house. Also in the hall two raised safes on some stone blocks had to impress the visitor and confirm to him that the house was property of a rich and well-off family. The house is located in the Regio VI, visited by the Prime Minister and made safe with the Great Pompeii Project, an area of 80 thousand square meters and divided in seventeen insulae. The actions programmed in the Great Pompeii Project have also allowed the reopening of the House of the wounded Adone, so named for the megalography with Adonis rescued by Aphrodite and surrounded by Cupids. New openings are also the house of the Anchor, so called because of the anchor represented on the mosaics of the vestibule and the house of the Labyrinth, from the subject of the mosaic of a room that opens onto the peristyle. Take a tour of Pompeii with us and time travel to the past! Start by viewing our guided Pompeii tours here. Or call our Pompeii office at +39 081 1877 7006.
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AuthorStaff at Flashback Journey to Pompeii. Our goal is to bring you up-to-date information on events, continuing archeological excavations and more on Pompeii. Archives
July 2018
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