Casa dell'Ara Laterizia
Province
Location
Location Description
An ancient Roman town of Campania destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D.79. Named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
Insula
III
House
17
Garden
Casa dell'Ara Laterizia
Keywords
Garden Description
539.III.17. At the rear of this small house there was a courtyard with an impressive brick altar against the rear wall. Maiuri felt this was probably a roofed area which would have been a sacellum. This area was excavated in 1927-1929 and may have held a few potted plants.
540.III.19-18/1-2 Because it was one of the largest houses in Herculaneum commanding a fine view of the Bay, it was initially thought that this residence was a hotel when it was excavated between the years of 1835 to 1855. The large garden (a) was also mistaken for a poultry yard but the discovery of the carbonized trunk of a pear tree (Pyrus communis L.) would indicate this area could have been planted in fruit trees. A portico surrounded the garden eight steps (1.10) above the garden level while the gutter ran one step below the portico and at each corner there was a shallow square basin for purifying the household water. The gutter conveyed the rain water to a cistern below the two wells, the openings of which were located between the columns in the middle of the east and west walls. A low masonry wall of opus reticulatum which went between the columns was a later addition. The garden was entered by way of masonry steps in the center of the south side.
Plans
Images
Places
Dates
unspecified
Excavation Date
1835-1855
Bibliography
- Maiuri, Ercolano, p. 422 and fig. 359 (plan) on p. 420.
- A.C. BdI (1835),p. 129 (worldcat)
- Maiuri, Herculaneum, pp. 26-27 (worldcat)
- Trotter, "Identificazione di un tronco d'albero carbonizzato rinvenuto nei recenti scavi di Ercolano," Annali del Regio Instituto Superiore Agrario di Portici, ser. 3, vol. 5 (1932), pp. 1-6 and pls. 1, 2 (worldcat)
- Trotter, Ercolano, pp. 51, 330-331 and fig. 258 (plan) on p. 474-475 (for reference to Bonucci's brief and inaccurate account of the excavation of this house, as preserved by Ruggerio) (worldcat)