Italy Trip Sept 2025 - Part 9 Pompeii (3)

I'm not sure where this picture was taken - it might have been in the House of the Vettii actually, but it's worth sharing no matter where it was located!

This is likely to be another bakery, with the oven at the back and millstones there on the left.

House of Leda

This house is so named due to a fresco (below) discovered of 'Leda and the Swan'; Leda being the famous queen of Sparta and Zeus who had been transformed into a swan. Click on the photo to see it larger and sharper.

On a personal note, those columns of florals, especially the one in the foreground right is a reminder of how we have not changed a lot in 2000 years - I know it's not in fashion right now but who remembers floral stencils around doorways and across the tops of walls some 30 odd years ago? 😁 

We did have a photo of Priapus, the god of fertility, and his unfeasibly large phallus after all (fans of Viz comic from the 80s/90s will understand that joke reference!). I had read that this house also had a fresco of him weighing his overly large penis on a weighing scale. Click on the photo to view larger, if you wish! 😀

House of Sirico

This was the house of Publius Vedius Sirico, known due to the discovery of a bronze ring seal bearing his name, along with other things which confirmed he was an important man in political and commercial life in Pompeii.

The house was originally two that over time were made into one dwelling, and there were two courtyards with basins in the centre as seen in the two photos below.

Casts of bodies found in this house

The people who died at Pompeii were not subjected to such intense heat as at Herculaneum, and they died sometimes with their clothes intact. They were covered in ash and pumice, which hardened to stone over time and when the area was excavated, the space where the body once was left an imprint in the rock. Impressions of the bodies have been made by putting liquid plaster inside the rock cavity then chipping off the rock, leaving the outline of the people who died. Some still have their clothing visible in the plaster impression. As they wore mostly woollen clothing, it doesn't burn easily. Over 1,000 victims have been found at Pompeii. There's an article about it with photos here if it interests you, but there's enough information in this info panel in the photo below as well.

Casts of what looks like two bodies, maybe three? Not sure these are the ones referred to above in the description.

This was the Great Exedra, a room used for banqueting.

An oven, also a part of the House of Sirico.

We then went to look at the theatre, the Odeon, which was the smaller of two theatres in this area. This would have been a roofed building originally.

The Quadriporticum originally served as a covered passage behind the theatre for spectators to use during intervals between shows. After the earthquake of 62AD its function changed and became the place where gladiators used to exercise in, and also contained barracks for them. This is a rare example of how Romans reused and repurposed buildings over time.

The Temple of Isis - one of the first discoveries during the excavation of Pompeii in 1764. This is actually the second structure as the original was damaged during the earthquake of 62AD.

House of the Wild Boar - currently closed so K took this picture through the locked gate. If you click on the photo you'll see the mosaic better. It looks more like a wolf than a boar really, although this animal does have tusks.

Palestra dei Iuvenes - a gymnasium for young men, but again closed and the photo of the mosaic in the entrance hall was taken through a gate.

And back on the main road coming towards the Forum area again. Overall we walked around a lot of the western side but really, considering the size of the town, we only saw a small amount of what there is to see! However after about 4 hours in the heat and humidity, we felt that was enough so called it a day mid afternoon.

And that, my friends, is the last of our photos of Pompeii, indeed the last of anything Roman for the rest of our trip!  From your comments, it seems I'm not the only person who finds Roman history and culture fascinating. Thank you.