Associazione Città Italiane Patrimonio Mondiale UNESCO
Archaeological areas of Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata
Associazione Città Italiane Patrimonio Unesco
Villa dei Papiri
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During the course of his excavations, he had the good luck to end up digging into the Theatre and recover a lot of marble slabs, columns and statues. The digs, organised by the prince carried on for five years, but were somewhat haphazard and as he uncovered far more statues than he could ever hope to use, he started to sell them off. Many of the discoveries were given away or went abroad and after the first discoveries were made, Herculaneum suffered its first desecration.
The arrival of Charles of Bourbon soon put a stop to the plundering and he organised planned digs. The practical theory of excavation involved digging tunnels and pits to create a network that measured about 600 metres from North to South and about 450 metres from East to West.
The excavations continued in this way until reaching what was the shoreline of ancient times, public buildings, more temples and lastly, the amazing Villa dei Papiri.
News of the extraordinary discoveries at Herculaneum quickly made the rounds of Europe and it was Winckelmann, the noted German archaeologist who created the most public awareness. His reports and aesthetic comments influenced literature regarding the style and customs of that time and from thence on were termed neo-classical. This marked the beginning of a huge influx of visitors to Vesuvius who were merely the forerunners of the armies of sightseers that followed in the centuries to come. The visitors were particularly interested in the Theatre and the wonderful Villa Papiri. The former seen as the greatest and best-preserved Hrerculanean monument and the Villa seen as a goldmine of works of art.
A fabulous hoard of sculptures was unearthed and the library of the Villa dei Papiri gave up a treasure of papyrus documents. The luxurious villa was over 250 metres long and paralleled the coastline. It was as wide as an Imperial mansion and was noted for the unusual artistic and literary tastes of its owner. The villa had its own art museum and a well-stocked library containing books by a contemporary philosopher: The Epicurean, Philodemus.
The discoveries were the most important cultural event of that century. The whole world was somewhat affected and the finds gave new life to the studies of antiquity and the entire cultural and scientific movement regarding ancient art and civilisation. The excavations uncovered a city frozen in time or better, a city fixed like a photograph in an instant of time. This astounding story of living archaeology is not yet over - there are still many extremely interesting ancient buildings yet to be uncovered.
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Archaeological areas of Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata
Jump the contents and go to the summary
The Herculaneum Digs
During the course of his excavations, he had the good luck to end up digging into the Theatre and recover a lot of marble slabs, columns and statues. The digs, organised by the prince carried on for five years, but were somewhat haphazard and as he uncovered far more statues than he could ever hope to use, he started to sell them off. Many of the discoveries were given away or went abroad and after the first discoveries were made, Herculaneum suffered its first desecration.
The arrival of Charles of Bourbon soon put a stop to the plundering and he organised planned digs. The practical theory of excavation involved digging tunnels and pits to create a network that measured about 600 metres from North to South and about 450 metres from East to West.
The excavations continued in this way until reaching what was the shoreline of ancient times, public buildings, more temples and lastly, the amazing Villa dei Papiri.
News of the extraordinary discoveries at Herculaneum quickly made the rounds of Europe and it was Winckelmann, the noted German archaeologist who created the most public awareness. His reports and aesthetic comments influenced literature regarding the style and customs of that time and from thence on were termed neo-classical. This marked the beginning of a huge influx of visitors to Vesuvius who were merely the forerunners of the armies of sightseers that followed in the centuries to come. The visitors were particularly interested in the Theatre and the wonderful Villa Papiri. The former seen as the greatest and best-preserved Hrerculanean monument and the Villa seen as a goldmine of works of art.
A fabulous hoard of sculptures was unearthed and the library of the Villa dei Papiri gave up a treasure of papyrus documents. The luxurious villa was over 250 metres long and paralleled the coastline. It was as wide as an Imperial mansion and was noted for the unusual artistic and literary tastes of its owner. The villa had its own art museum and a well-stocked library containing books by a contemporary philosopher: The Epicurean, Philodemus.
The discoveries were the most important cultural event of that century. The whole world was somewhat affected and the finds gave new life to the studies of antiquity and the entire cultural and scientific movement regarding ancient art and civilisation. The excavations uncovered a city frozen in time or better, a city fixed like a photograph in an instant of time. This astounding story of living archaeology is not yet over - there are still many extremely interesting ancient buildings yet to be uncovered.