english

  • Hotel Sole Splendid Maiori

    Hotel Sole Splendid Maiori

    hotel in Maiori, accommodation in Maiori, hotel on the Amalfi Coast, accommodation on the Amalfi Coast, sea view hotel, sea view...

  • La Buca delle Fate

    La Buca delle Fate

    Quality Appartments Accommodation Vacation Holiday Guest House Residence Maiori Amalficoast Neapolitan Riviera Salerno Campania...

  • Le Perle d'Italia B&B

    Le Perle d'Italia B&B

    Bed and Breakfast Charming Accommodation Ravello Amalfi Coast Salerno Campania Italy

  • Sal De Riso Amalfi Coast

    Sal De Riso Amalfi Coast

    Ancient Taste on the Amalfi Coast Salvatore De Riso Pastry Shop Bar Lounge Minori Amalficoast Neapolitan Riviera Salerno Campania...

  • Pizzeria A Gradillo Pizza in Ravello

    Pizzeria A Gradillo Pizza in Ravello

    wood oven, take away pizza, pizza delivery, seats

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

Most viewed in Amalfi Coast

  • Hotel Villa Maria Ravello

    Hotel Villa Maria - Amalfi's Coast - Ravello Owned by the Palumbo family, the Villa Maria Hotel offers to its guest the romantic atmosphere of the enchanting Ravello. It is located in a central position, in the historic center of the town, among Villa...

  • Agriturismo Sant'Alfonso

    Surrounded by the scent of wild herbs and the colors of the lush Mediterranean vegetation, the Agriturismo Sant'Alfonso is the expression of an harmonious relationship between man and nature. It is located away from traffic noise, on a rocky spur overlooking...

  • Hotel La Margherita Villa Giuseppina AmalfiCoast

    La Margherita Villa Giuseppina, open all the year, is the ideal place to spend a relaxing and pleasant stay on the Amalfi coast. It is located in the heart of Scala, the oldest town of the Amalfi coast, and offers its customers the guarantee of a family...

  • Sal De Riso Amalfi Coast

    Since 1908 the De Riso family has been running a bar/tobacconist's shop in the town's main square; they have become famous in the whole Amalfi coast by making ice creams and lemon granita in the summertime. After studying as cook and working as chef in...

  • Hotel Parsifal Ravello

    How to discover Ravello's magic and charm in an ancient XIV century convent. The Hotel Parsifal takes its name from one of the main works of Richard Wagner, who, during his stay in Ravello, admiring Villa Rufolo gardens, said "the magic garden of Klingsor...

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