Villa of Mysteries

The Villa of Mysteries is a Roman Villa located outside of the walls of the city of Pompeii. It is believed to have been built in the 2nd century BC. In the first century BC, it was refurbished and the wall paintings for which it is famed were added. The villa was badly damaged in the earthquake of 62AD and some evidence suggests that it was repaired and used for the production of wine thereafter until it was buried along with the rest of the city by the the eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD.

The villa was excavated in 1909-10 and 1929-30. Further work was carried out in 2013-15 and in 2018, but the villa has still not been fully excavated.

The wall paintings for which the villa is famed appear to show the stages in the induction of a young Roman woman into a mystery cult.

My visit to the villa of Mysteries was a virtual one using Heygo (https://www.heygo.com/) with local guide Raffaele, an archaeologist who has worked in Pompeii.

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