Stabiae
The city of Stabiae (now Castellammare di Stabia ) was a Roman settlement on the Gulf of Naples, about 4.5 kilometers southwest of Pompeii . When the volcano Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, it was destroyed like Pompeii and Herculaneum .
history
A settlement existed in the Stabiae region before the Roman era. In 1957, three hundred graves were discovered in an associated necropolis , which due to pottery as grave goods in the 7th to 3rd centuries BC. Could be dated. Stabiae has been a small port since the 6th century BC. In the shadow of the much larger port of Pompeii. 89th v. In BC, Stabiae von Sulla was largely destroyed in the course of the alliance war. The Roman admiral and naturalist Pliny the Elder reported that the city was rebuilt a short time later and became a favorite spot for wealthy Romans who built their luxury villas several miles along the coast - some on the Varano plain above the city with panoramic views over the Bay of Naples. Stabiae was also known for its spring water, which was said to have healing properties. According to a letter from his nephew Pliny the Younger , Pliny the Elder was on the other side of the bay at the Roman naval base of Misenum when Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD . From there he sailed in a galley towards Herculaneum, partly to be able to observe the eruption more closely, partly to save people living there. Due to the heavy ash rain, however, he was unable to reach the coast and instead headed for Stabiae. After a restless night, they wanted to leave the area in the morning. Pliny collapsed dead on the beach. The cause of death is still unclear. In research, possible causes are death from suffocation, poisoning, asthma attacks , heart attacks or strokes . Pliny presumably died during the sixth and largest pyroclastic wave caused by the collapse of the eruption column . The very thinned outer edge of this wave reached Stabiae and left a two-centimeter layer of ash on the pyroclastic material that had already fallen. Some villas from the period between the destruction by Sulla in 89 B.C. And the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD have been preserved to this day and are among the most beautiful examples of their kind.
The first archaeological remains of Stabiae were discovered in 1749. However, the excavated ruins were filled in again after the removal of their furnishings and the best-preserved frescoes and their location was forgotten over time. After being rediscovered in 1950, the site was declared an archaeological reserve in 1957 and some of the ruins were exposed again by 1962. Not only Roman buildings but also those from previous periods were discovered. The excavated villas belong to two different types: In addition to the luxury villas already mentioned, numerous Villae Rusticae were excavated in the surrounding land, which were far less grandly furnished as functional buildings. The luxury villas, on the other hand, were mostly located on the plateau directly on the coast and some were directly connected to the sea by ramps leading to the beach , which in Roman times was probably only between 100 and 200 meters from the foot of the hill. The coastline has changed since then, so the ruins are further inland today than they were in ancient times .
Villa Arianna
Villa Arianna is one of the oldest villas in Stabiae and dates back to the second century BC. The original extent of the villa cannot be precisely determined, as large parts of the complex fell down the slope of the plateau. The villa was first excavated between 1757 and 1762; it is only separated from another villa (the "second complex") by a narrow alley. After the removal of the best furnishings and frescoes, the villa was filled in again. The excavations resumed in 1950; During this time the villa was named Arianna after a fresco on the opposite wall of the large triclinium depicting Ariadne , who had been abandoned by Theseus . The villa has an unconventional floor plan, partly due to the hillside location of the property. It extends over three levels that were created by landslides . A number of substructures served to support the rooms above. Certainly the main series of rooms was at the front of the top level; some of these rooms had a view of both the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other. A long tunnel (g) led from the stables and courtyards (h) under the living quarters to the bank. The atrium (a) and the surrounding rooms date from the late Republican period. The corresponding impluvium lies in the middle of a black and white mosaic floor with a wide white border. The walls are decorated with wall paintings in the ornamental style (also called Third Pompeian Style , 20 BC - 50 AD) on a red and black background. Two rooms at the entrance to the atrium, on the other hand, retain a large part of their decoration in the architectural style ( second Pompeian style , 80-20 BC). a. shows fluted ionic columns that support a coffered ceiling on a raised wall. Some of the most important frescoes of the ancient Stabiae have been found in the adjacent rooms. Most of them were removed as early as the Bourbon period in the 18th century and can now be seen in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.
On the north side of the atrium is the owner's tablinum . On the opposite side, a passage originally opened onto a square peristyle (c) that was excavated during the Bourbon period, but later filled in again and not yet explored.
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The great triclinium and the surrounding rooms (d) date from the middle of the first century AD. It is in the fantasy style ( fourth Pompeian style , from 50 AD) richly decorated with mythological scenes, the blue on a yellow and red background are framed over a lower red and black decorative frieze. The central picture on the back wall shows Ariadne, who was abandoned by Theseus on the island of Naxos . In the same room, between detailed patterns, were the broken-out frescoes of Lycurgus and Ambrosia on the east wall and Hippolytus and Phaedra in the west. The smaller rooms around the triclinium have walls in red or yellow with minimalist decor, consisting of Cupidos , flight figures, miniature landscapes and medallions with busts . One of these rooms has an unusual tiled pattern. Above a red decorative frieze , the tiles contain painted female figures and putti in a sequence that is repeated every four rows. The first row shows alternating female figures and birds, followed by birds and flowers in the second, flowers and medallions in the third row, and a last one interspersed with roses. Nearby are two diaetae placed on either side of a summer triclinium (e). Both rooms are painted in fantasy style with a mixture of landscapes and animals such as crickets , birds and butterflies. The palaestra (f) is at the western end of the villa and was added to the building shortly before the eruption of Vesuvius. It was about 104 meters long and 81 meters wide, the recommended size of such a square according to Vitruvius . The open area was surrounded by a colonnade consisting of over 100 columns covered with white stucco . In 2007 a large garden was found in the palaestra. In the course of 2009, the entire garden area was cleared of volcanic debris and the area was gridded so that plant beds , shrubs and trees as well as garden facilities (wells, cisterns and curb stones for beds) could be recorded. This will make it possible to identify plants and trees that were growing there at the time of the outbreak. The villa had its own private thermal bath (i). Although smaller than the other villas in Stabiae, the complete sequence of tepidarium , caldarium and frigidarium can be found . Numerous supply areas as well as stables and farm buildings (h) were located on the south-eastern boundary of the property .
Second complex
The so-called, poorly preserved villa is located right next to Villa Adrianna, only separated from it by a narrow alley. Recent excavations from 1967 onwards uncovered part of the peristyle and a number of rooms that opened from the west and north sides. Unfortunately, one of these rooms, an oecus , was later destroyed by a landslide. The original villa appears to have been built around the large rectangular peristyle (a), at the western end of which there was a square fish pond (b) that has now been filled in again. To the south adjoining rooms belonged a kitchen and the private thermal baths of the villa, consisting of a caldarium (c) with an apse at the north end and a bath at the south side, a tepidarium (d) with a bath and another room (e) with a circular dome, probably a laconicum . The colonnade on the north side of the peristyle consists of fourteen stuccoed columns. A greater distance in the northern row of columns marks the location of a large triclinium (f), which is flanked by a series of rooms and connecting corridors. Little has been preserved of the wall decorations in this part of the house; the mosaic floors, however, were in good condition and are now in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples. The white mosaic floor with a central, rectangular image field with figurative motifs was bordered by a black and white meander .
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The west side of the peristyle is decorated in the ornament style (third style) with pictures framed in red on a black background above a red frieze. The rooms on this side of the peristyle probably date from imperial times and are on a different axis than the earlier rooms. These walls, largely made of Opus reticulatum , are much better preserved than in the rest of the villa and are also painted in the third style, mostly on a black background. The first of these rooms (g) is a large oecus with a door and two windows that open to the colonnade of the peristyle. It has a floor made of Opus sectile and frescoes in the third style on a black background. A door on the north side opens to a terrace (h), while another door in the northwest corner leads to a second oecus (i), which also has access to the terrace. This room is also decorated in the third style with black panels on a red background over a lower black frieze. The south wall of this room has a third style exedra (j) with pictures framed in red over a lower black frieze in the middle . To the left of the exedra, a narrow passage, the walls of which were simply coated with raw plaster , leads to an open area (k) in the south. On the right-hand side, a second corridor leads to a rectangular room (l) that adjoins the road between the complex and the neighboring Villa Arianna. Next to this corridor , on the west side of Oecus (i), a door leads to room (m), which is also painted in the third style. Two rooms lead away from the north side of this room. The door to the west opens to a large room (s) decorated in the third style on a black floor with red central panels including the seahorse and the dolphin depicted below. The second room (o), which is entered through the eastern doorway, has an irregular shape with a narrow entrance that looks more like a passage. Like the other rooms on the west side of the villa, the room is furnished in the third style and has a white mosaic floor bordered by a simple black band.
Villa del Pastore
Between Villa Arianna and Villa San Marco to the north is Villa del Pastore, named after a small statue of a shepherd that was discovered at this point. The last excavations here (1967 - 68) were financed by the landowner at the time. Since then, attempts have been made to acquire land between Villa Arianna and Villa San Marco in order to unite the excavated areas of the villas of Stabiae. As bureaucratic obstacles prevented this project, the Villa dei Pastore was filled in again in 1970 in order to preserve the Villa del Pastore. This is the situation to this day. At 19,000 square meters, the villa is even larger than Villa San Marco and includes many rooms, large bathrooms and luxurious gardens. However, there is a lack of living space, which suggests that it may not have been a residence but a valetudinarium , where people could use the famous Stabiae spring water.
Villa San Marco
The 11,000 m² Villa San Marco owes its name to a chapel which was dedicated to St. Mark and which stood on this site in the second half of the 18th century. Initially - in the time of Augustus - the villa consisted of a few rooms arranged around a square atrium (b). During the Claudian period, the villa was expanded to include a garden and a water basin, which is surrounded by a three-sided portico . These additions changed the original blueprint, leaving the entrance (a) and the original core at an angle to the new axis. The villa was excavated between 1950 and 1962. The original owner is uncertain, although stamps on tiles could indicate that the building was owned by Narcissus , a freed slave of Emperor Claudius. The current entrance (a) consists of a small veranda with stone benches for people waiting to be received by the owner.
The entrance leads to an atrium (b) with four ionic columns around a central impluvium. The atrium is decorated in a fantasy (fourth style) with red, black and yellow panels over a lower black frieze. There are small cubicula on both sides of the entrance hall . On the southwest wall of the atrium, next to a third cubiculum, one discovers the lararium (c), decorated with frescoes that imitate marble objects. To the right there are two foundations on which a heavy chest probably stood. The landlord's tablinum (d) is on the northeast side of the atrium next to a fourth cubiculum. This tablinum is decorated in the fourth style on a red background with garlands and decorative strips with central images of animals. The upper zone of the decor consists of architectural motifs on a black background. The white mosaic floor is bordered by two black bands. The tablinum opens to a peristyle (s) in the northeast. On the other side of this courtyard is an exit that opened directly to a street. This cobblestone road connected Stabiae with the bank below. Countless graffiti and small charcoal drawings have survived along the accompanying walls . Several items have been found in or around the atrium and courtyard, including a bronze sculpture of a raven , a statue of Mercury, and a bronze chandelier .
The kitchen (g), located to the west of the atrium, is a large rectangular room, the east wall of which is adjacent to the lararium on the back. Located on the north wall of a bar of brick , cooked on. It was bordered by a series of curved terracotta tiles to accommodate the charcoal bed required for cooking. At the bottom there are four arches that were used to store pots or wood for the fire. In the northwest corner is a basin that was calcareous at the time of the excavation. When the kitchen was first excavated, the north wall of the kitchen contained a painted lararium, but it was removed in 1752 and is now on display in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples. The remaining walls are covered with plain, white plaster, but are of interest because of the numerous graffiti that show everyday life at the time.
A hallway from the northwest corner of the atrium leads to a small but luxurious private thermal bath area, the rooms of which are grouped around a second atrium (i). This atrium is also decorated in the fourth style with red surfaces on a black background over a lower black frieze. The pictures show scenes of cupids, a wrestler and boxers in various poses. The apodyterium (j) is on the west side of this atrium. From here, the bathers went to the palaestra (k) to work up a sweat by exercising before entering the tepidarium (l), which is painted in the third style on a black background. Behind the tepidarium is the caldarium with its large bathroom. Like the tepidarium, the caldarium also has hypocausts that allow the warm air to circulate. In the center there was a large cauldron that was removed and exposed the hypocausts below. (This cauldron was one of several items that were to be transported to England and that were lost when the ship "Colossus" sank off the coast of England in 1798). When leaving the caldarium, the bather entered the frigidarium (s), which has a marble-lined basin at its eastern end. An entrance from the west side of the hallway mentioned opens to a large peristyle (o) that contains a 30 m long garden and a basin. The peristyle was adorned with frescoes of Neptune , Venus and some athletes , removed by the Bourbons and now in the Museum of Naples and the Musée Condé in Chantilly ( France ). Originally there was a row of plane trees on the sides of the basin, the root cavities of which were found and casts made of; Archaeologists have calculated that the age of these trees at the time of the volcanic eruption was between 75 and 100 years.
A nymphaeum with a painted facade and a central fountain concludes the peristyle. The nymphaeum has niches decorated with mosaics and stucco. The walls of the portico are decorated in the fourth style with red panels on a black background over a lower black frieze. The upper zone contains many fine details, including that of a winged figure. Ornate relaxation rooms are located at each end of the side aisles. The first of the rooms on the east side is painted in the fourth style with several scenes, including one of Perseus and Kassandra , while the ceiling in the form of a false dome shows a winged Nike . In the next room one discovers a picture of the kidnapping of Europe by Zeus (in the form of a bull ). The last room (p) is also furnished in the fourth style and architecturally the most interesting of the three. A second peristyle (q) to the southwest, only preserved in a few parts, was even larger (according to recent investigations, perhaps up to 145 meters long). The surrounding portico was supported by unusual spiral columns that toppled during an earthquake in 1980. The ceiling of the portico was adorned with paintings depicting several mythological scenes, including the seasons and the sun chariot of Phaethon . Fragments of some of the frescoes can be seen in the Antiquarium Stabiano .
Villa del Filosofo
The philosopher's villa, located 200 m inland from Villa San Marco - probably not a luxury villa, but a Villa Rustica - was discovered in 1778. It owes its name to a ring found here, the carved carnelian of which represents the bust of a philosopher . Access to the villa was via a paved road; the rooms were grouped around an inner courtyard with a cryptoportico with windows in the north and verandahs in the south and east, in the middle of which there was an altar made of tuff and a fountain. The adjoining rooms served both residential and agricultural purposes.
The Villa del Filosofo also had its own thermal bath with a white floor mosaic and the image of a dolphin , while the walls were painted with frescoes of animals and masks. Since this villa did not suffer from the looting of the Bourbon era, numerous finds could still be made here, including a. the above-mentioned ring, but also an ivory comb depicting Venus, agricultural tools, terracotta objects, candlesticks, bronze vases, a stove decorated with stucco and the skeleton of a horse.
The ruins of the villa were filled in again after the exploration.
literature
- Alfonso De Franciscis: Ercolano e Stabia. Istituto geografico De Agostini, Novara 1974, ISBN 88-402-4410-7 .
- Arnold De Vos, Mariette De Vos: Pompei, Ercolano, Stabia. Editori Laterza, Roma 1982.
- Domenico Camardo, Antonio Ferrata, Nicola Longobardi: Stabiae: le ville. Napoli: Biblioteca del Clero della Chiesa del Gesù, 1989.
- Libero D'Orsi, Antonio Carosella, Vincenzo Cuccurullo: Gli scavi di Stabiae: giornale di scavo. Quasar, Roma 1996, ISBN 88-7140-104-2 .
- Libero D'Orsi: Come ritrovai l'antica Stabia. Rinascita Artistica, Napoli 1956.
- Harold Acton: I Borboni di Napoli. Giunti Editore, Firenze 1997, ISBN 88-09-21079-4 .
- Francesco La Vega, Mario Pagano, Pietro La Vega: I Diari di scavo di Pompei, Ercolano e Stabia di Francesco e Pietro La Vega. L'Erma di Bretschneider, Roma 1997, ISBN 88-7062-967-8 .
- Alix Barbet, Paola Miniero Forte, Agnès Allroggen-Bedel: La villa San Marco a Stabiae. École française de Rome, Napoli 1999, ISBN 2-7283-0608-7 .
- Autori Vari: Piccola guida agli scavi di Pompei. Essestampa, Napoli 2001.
- Annamaria Russo: Stabiae - Colore e disegno: antico e moderno. Longobardi Editore, Castellammare di Stabia 2002, ISBN 88-8090-171-0 .
- Pier Giovanni Guzzo, Alfredo Foglia, Pio Foglia: Pompei, Ercolano, Stabiae, Oplontis: le città sepolte dal Vesuvio. Electa, Firenze 2003, ISBN 88-510-0160-X .
- Giovanna Bonifacio, Anna Maria Sodo: Stabia: storia e architettura: 250º anniversario degli scavi di Stabiae 1749–1999. L'Erma di Bretschneider, Roma 2004, ISBN 88-8265-201-7 .
- Antonio Ferrara: Castellammare di Stabia - Breve guida agli scavi di Stabiae. Longobardi Editore, Castellammare di Stabia 2005.
- Domenico Camardo, Antonio Ferrara: Stabiae - Dai Borboni all ultime scoperte. Longobardi Editore, Castellammare di Stabia 2005, ISBN 88-8090-124-9 .
- Giuseppe Di Massa: La chiesa di Santa Maria del Carmine al Petraro in Santa Maria la Carità. Longobardi Editore, Castellammare di Stabia 2005.
- Giovanna Bonifacio, Anna Maria Sodo: Stabiae - Guida archeologica alle ville. Longobardi Editore, Castellammare di Stabia 2006, ISBN 88-8090-125-7 .
- Giovanna Bonifacio, Anna Maria Sodo, Gina Carla Ascione: In Stabiano - Cultura e archeologia da Stabiae. Longobardi Editore, Castellammare di Stabia 2006, ISBN 88-8090-126-5 .
- Giuseppe Centonze: Stabiana: Castellammare di Stabia e dintorni nella storia, nella letteratura, nell'arte. Longobardi Editore, Castellammare di Stabia 2006, ISBN 88-8090-223-7 .
- Giuseppe Lauro Aiello: La città di Stabia e San Catello suo patrono. Longobardi Editore, Castellammare di Stabia 2007, ISBN 978-88-8090-254-6 .
Web links
- Traveling exhibition Otium ludens , with 170 exhibits from Stabiae (Italian / English)
Coordinates: 40 ° 42 ' N , 14 ° 29' E