Ancient site · Italy · Restored

Villa of the Mysteries

Villa dei Misteri

The Villa of the Mysteries is a suburban Roman villa on the outskirts of Pompeii, noted for its large layout and a sequence of well-preserved wall paintings in Room 5. Buried in the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, the villa preserves more than sixty rooms including a peristyle, atrium with impluvium, service quarters and spaces adapted for agricultural production.

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Photograph via Wikimedia Commons

Its prime

AD 1

Today

Restored

As it stood in AD 1

What Villa of the Mysteries looked like in its prime.

A low, rectilinear compound of brick and ashlar walls with terracotta tiled pitched and flat roofs, sitting on a sloping site above a cryptoporticus of blind arches; formal hedged gardens and boxwood parterres lie beside paved courtyards and a colonnaded peristyle. Interior rooms in the villa were richly frescoed—most famously Room 5 with broad red-painted wall surfaces and painted figures—while service areas show stone paving and utility fittings for wine and oil production.

Step inside

11 places to explore in AD 1.

The record describes 11 distinct spots at Villa of the Mysteries, including 7 interiors: main atrium with impluvium, triclinium and portico overlooking the gulf, room 5 (frescoed oecus / 'mysteries' room) and more. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more photos, more angles and more of the immersive experience.

Exterior approach from Via SuperioreAncient entrance and waiting bench areaPeristyle with hanging gardensMain atrium with impluviumTriclinium and portico overlooking the GulfRoom 5 (frescoed oecus / 'Mysteries' room)Room 4 (nuptial cubiculum)Bathing and kitchen quartersWine press and farm production areaCryptoporticus beneath the slope (blind arches)Ground floor stables and harnessed-horse area

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