Britt Bardman
Staff Writer
The House of Lovers, one of Pompeii’s most celebrated buildings, has reopened 40 years after it was severely damaged in an earthquake. Two other buildings, the House of the Ship Europa and the House of the Orchard, have also reopened to visitors.
The three domus dwellings, or private family residences, were restored as a part of the European Union-funded Great Pompeii Project, which has helped new excavations and wide-ranging restoration work to be carried out since 2012. The Great Pompeii Project strives to restore the city to its former glory after it was famously buried by Mount Vesuvius’ eruption in 79 A.D.
The Director of Archaeology, Massimo Osanna, and the Italian Minister of Culture, Dari Franceschini reopened the House of Lovers and confirmed the end of the construction work that began in 2014.
“Pompeii is a story of rebirth and redemption, a place where research and new excavations have returned thanks to the work of many cultural heritage professionals,” said Franceschini on the completion of the restoration project, quoted in Corriere Della Sera.
The House of Lovers’ second floor and decorations were almost completely preserved when discovered in 1933. Vivid frescoes and new inscriptions that were discovered over the years of restoration are now available for the public eye once again.
A fresco depicting an armor-clad gladiator standing victorious as his wounded opponent gushes blood was discovered in the restoration. It was painted in a tavern believed to have housed the fighters and prostitutes. An inscription that proves the city, near Naples, was destroyed after Oct. 17, 79 AD, and not on Aug. 24 as previously believed, was also found.
“The ‘House of Lovers,’ and other the buildings at Pompeii, are uniquely important because they are the best representatives we have of daily life during the Roman Empire,” said Barbara Logan, assistant professor of history at the University of Wyoming. “This particular domus is also important because it has a second floor tourists can visit. Multi-storied buildings were common in Rome, so it gives a fuller idea of how people actually lived.”
After the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (Unesco) threat to place Pompeii on the list of world heritage sites in peril, Italian authorities improved its preservation and sought more funding for restoration. The threat followed several incidents over the previous years, including the collapse of the House of Gladiators and several walls, lack of qualified staff, structural damage and vandalism.
“Italy has had problems with being able to afford the upkeep of its sites and the security needed to protect its thousands of vulnerable artifacts. Fewer buildings are open to the public now at Pompeii than when the site was first opened as a museum in order to protect the site for future generations,” Logan said.
In 2016, National Geographic’s Frank Viviano reported only 10 of the city’s buildings were open to the public, compared to the 64 open in 1956. Since the launch of the Great Pompeii Project, though, the situation has improved drastically.
Vandalism and theft are just as dangerous for Pompeii’s preservation as earthquakes. Since Pompeii is so vulnerable to human-caused damage, Italy has a special branch of police, the Carabinieri [Command] for the Protection of Cultural Heritage to fight gangs that specialize in looting art. Italy also led the way in bringing museums to court to sue for the return of cultural artifacts that have clearly been looted from archaeological sites or stolen from small museums.
“[The reopening] should give us a sense of how Rome could be beautiful as well as powerful. When people see these villas I hope it encourages them to appreciate the present, as the Romans appreciated their own lives as they lived them,” Logan said.
