Pompeii reopens the emblematic and erotic House of the Vettii after 20 years

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The archaeological site of Pompeii (southern Italy) today opened to the public the House of the Vettii,

decorated with numerous erotic scenes and which has remained closed for the last twenty years.

The Minister of Culture,

, attended the reopening with other authorities and celebrated in a statement the recovery of "a unique space of its kind and inaccessible" in the last two decades.

The House of the Vettii is one of the most appreciated 'domus' of this ancient Roman city at the gates of Naples, devastated by the eruption of Vesuvius

and a World Heritage Site.

Excavated between 1894 and 1896,

the Vettii house was part of the complex of two freedmen -Aulus Vettius Conviva and Aulus Vettius Restitutus- who had become rich from the wine trade.

The Cupid Room, in the Casa Vettii.Andrew MedichiniAP

The luxurious pictorial and sculptural decoration of the 'domus' also reflects the prosperity of this entire city, where wine was produced for the entire Mediterranean, as well as a social model that allowed two slaves to

The House of the Vettii, in addition to being one of the greatest examples of Roman art from the 1st century, preserves a series of

Its garden, surrounded by columns, had a water system and small fountains, has recovered two original statues, including that of

and recognized in classical iconography for his enormous penis, also drawn on its walls.

On the other hand, next to the kitchen there was a room decorated with small frescoes on erotic themes which, according to some hypotheses,

.

In fact, on the left wall of the vestibule of the house, an inscription of a woman named Eutychis was found who was described as

and offered for two aces.

The director of the site,

, noted that this woman was a "Greek slave who belonged to the most vulnerable strata of society" from Pompeii.

The place, the cover of half the world's tourist guides, has remained

, with the exception of a partial reopening in 2016 that allowed only its atrium and some adjacent spaces to be shown.

The Vettii House, open to the public after its restoration.Andrew MedichiniAP

Now it is possible to admire this impressive 'domus' restored by

and gardening experts.

The most complicated part has been the removal of the

that in the past were applied to the frescoes in an attempt to preserve them, a practice that over the years has been found to be highly detrimental to cultural assets.

So much so that this wax has ended

and mythological scenes preserved under the floor of Pompeii for centuries.

"The House of the Vettii is the history of the Roman world enclosed within the same building, like a

," Zuchtriegel argued.

And it is that the mythological frescoes and their exceptional marble and bronze sculptures not only demonstrate the Hellenic legacy of Roman culture but also represent a sample of "the economic and social life of the city" and the

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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