english

  • Hotel La Corte Albertina Piedmont

    Hotel La Corte Albertina Piedmont

    Charming 3 Stars Quality Hotel Accommodation Rooms and Breakfast Pollenzo Bra Cuneo Langhe Roero Piedmont Italy

  • Hotel La Posta Vecchia Ladispoli

    Hotel La Posta Vecchia Ladispoli

    Charming Luxury 5 Stars Hotel Accommodation Exclusive Wellness Resort Health & Beauty Club Ladispoli Rome Latium Italy

  • Wine Tour AmalfiCoast

    Wine Tour AmalfiCoast

    Exclusive tours and transfers, Wines on the Amalfi Coast and Avellino, Taurasi tours, Fior d'Uva, Conca dei Marini, Vietri Sul...

  • Agriturismo Il Frescale Tramonti Amalfi Coast

    Agriturismo Il Frescale Tramonti Amalfi Coast

    Charming Bed and Breakfast Accommodation Rooms Restaurant Neapolitan Riviera Tramonti Amalficoast Salerno Campania Italy

  • Dalisa Holiday Farm

    Dalisa Holiday Farm

    Holiday Famhouse Rooms Bed and Breakfast Apartments Accommodation Neapolitan Riviera Tramonti Amalficoast Salerno Campania Italy

you are here: Home More About The Roman villa in Positano: the past that emerges

Stay

Visit a locality browsing the menu on the left. In each Italy area you can then choose the best touristical structures we are proposing.

More About

Here you can find info and tips about the area you are visiting.

Most viewed in Italy

  • Wagner Tours Ravello Weddings

    What better location for an unforgettable wedding, the breathtaking views of the Amalfi Coast, with its evocative and characteristic areas and that incredible romantic atmosphere of the past? For the most important day of your life, trust the experts!...

  • Villas Amalfi Coast Accommodation

    Amalfi Coast Accommodation uses the experience of its designers and architects for fully furnished accommodations which better reflect your needs, giving you the best experience of self-catering on the Amalfi Coast for unforgettable vacations. Amalfi...

  • Viva la gente Travel Salerno

    Viva la gente seleziona per voi viaggi indimenticabili che sapranno unire sapientemente svago e cultura, relax ed avventura, per apprezzare al meglio tutti gli aspetti ambientali, etnografici e folcloristici di un Paese, anche quelli più nascosti. Biglietteria...

  • Sunland Travel and Accommodation Amalfi Coast

    Sunland since 1979 is the leading tour operator for ground hanling services on Amalfi Coast, Cilento and Neapolitan Riviera. Sunland is the partner of some of the biggest tour operator world wide. Our attentive staff is at your service for: Hotel accomodation...

Print this page Send to a friend by e-mail

The Roman villa in Positano: the past that emerges

In Roman times many villas were built by emperors and wealthy aristocrats along the coastline of the Campania felix: from the Sorrento peninsula to Paestum, including the Amalfi Coast and Capri. They were the so called "villae maritimae", accessible only by the sea, place of otium and exclusive retreat for the most important exponents of the Roman policy and aristocracy.

During the works in both Piazza Flavio Gioia and the crypt of the Church dedicated to Santa Maria Assunta in Positano, have been brought to light the walls and the collapsed roofs of a maritime villa (dating back from the I century BC and the I century AD), damaged before by the earthquake of 62AD and, then, swamped by ash and pumice of the Vesuvius eruption in 79AD. Part of the villa as well as of the sculptural decoration were already discovered in the XVII century and, later, in the second half of the XVIII century by Carlo Weber, the Swiss architect who followed the excavations at Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae by order of Charles of Bourbon. In the twenties of the ‘900 a local butcher, during the works in his shop near the church, brought to life other portions of the villa.

As happened in Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae, the eruptive materials allowed a perfect preservation of the porches, peristyle, various rooms, frescoes and stucco. In particular we can see a wall in opus reticulatum, decorated by a stucco frame and beautiful polychrome frescoes in Pompeian style, depicting a seahorse, an eagle, a Pegasus and two cupids. The depictions are framed by fine architectural backgrounds as a coffered ceiling and a classical architrave.

According to Della Corte's opinion the Roman villa in Positano belonged to the gladiator Posides Claudi Caesaris libertus (a freedman to whom the emperor Claudius donated the pure lance, as a reward for the conquests against the Britons. If this theory was true, the name of Positano could derive from Posides, as the villa would be considered the "praedium posidetanum" (Posides's property).

Choose language

italiano

english