Villa Oplontis

Purchase the Naples & Campania Artecard for access to over 40 monuments, museums, and archaeological sites, including Ruins of Pompei, Herculaneum, National Archaeological Museum, Madre, Museum and Royal Wood of Capodimonte, Royal Palace of Naples, Castel Sant'Elmo, Certosa of San Martino, Royal Palace of Caserta, Paestum, and the Archaeological Museum of Capua. Enjoy free admission to many museums or sites and discounted admission to all other museums and archaeological sites visited thereafter. Explore the city as you travel for free on the Naples and Campania regional public transportation network (UnicoCampania public transport system). Visit your chosen cultural sites, selecting freely from the following list, and receive a discount of up to 50% from the other sites on: • Parco Archeologico di Pompei • Parco Archeologico di Ercolano • Museo Archeologico Nazionale • Palazzo Reale di Napoli • Museo e Real Bosco di Capodimonte • Reggia di Caserta • Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Paestum • Palazzo Reale di Napoli • Certosa e Museo di San Martino • Madre_Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Donnaregina • Museo Pignatelli Cortes • Museo Duca di Martina • Museo civico di Castel Nuovo • Castel Sant'Elmo • Parco Archeologico di Oplontis • Scavi di Oplontis • Scavi di Stabia • Scavi di Boscoreale ed Antiquarium • Parco Archeologico di Baia • Museo Archeologico dei Campi Flegrei nel Castello di Baia • Anfiteatro Flavio • Parco Archeologico di Cuma • Museo Archeologico dell'Antica Capua • Museo dei Gladiatori • Anfiteatro Campano • Mitreo • Parco Archeologico di Paestum • Certosa San Lorenzo • Parco Archeologico di Elea Velia

Climb aboard the shuttle bus service on Piazza del Gesù Nuovo in the historical center of Naples, and then travel in comfort to the archaeological site of Pompeii. Get dropped off at the main entrance and save precious time with your priority entrance ticket. Travel back in time and imagine life during the days of the Roman Empire as you stroll along cobblestone streets built over 2,000 years ago. See the miraculous remains of the shops, temples and theaters that were covered in lava and ash following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Marvel at the mosaic tiles of the luxury villas of rich merchants who made their fortune in the prosperous city. See the remains of the House of the Faun and get an insight into how the citizens kept themselves entertained as you discover a brothel, public baths and much more. 

The Oplontis ruins are located in the center of the modern city of Torre Annunziata. The name Oplontis is attested only in the Tabula Peutingeriana, a medieval copy of an ancient map of Italian roads in the Roman Empire, in which Oplontis indicates some structures located between Pompeii and Herculaneum. The main monument, the only one that can be visited, is the villa of Poppaea. It was built in the mid-1st century B.C., the villa was enlarged in the imperial age and was already being restored at the time of the eruption. Its ownership is attributed to Poppaea Sabina, second wife of Emperor Nero, but in any case belonging to the imperial family estate. We will provide you with a handy audio guide to download directly to your cell phone and the priority entrance ticket to enjoy the beauty of the excavations to the fullest and in full autonomy. A day before the tour our team will contact you via whatsapp or via email: we will send you the tickets and all the informations you need. Be sure to download on your smartphone all the contents before the visit. The ruins and museums don't have free Wi-Fi and mobile network coverage is not always good. Reservations arriving after 6 p.m. will be processed the following morning after 8 a.m.

You will be completely free to use the audio guides right after the purchase starting to listen the contents and design into detail the points of interest you will see. Using your own smartphone you'll sure that the device is sanitized : it's yours! The app will help you to reach the point of interest thanks to maps and geo localization. More complex points of interest for example Big Domus in Pompeii and Herculaneum Ruins ( like one of Menandro, House of Cervi, etc..) or big collection into the MANN ( like Farnese collection, Egypt collection , etc..) , are splitted in several sections to ensure you are always well linked to what you are watching. For each doubt or issue about using the ITGUIDES app , a whatsapp contact is provided on the app to give you the right support.

A number of Latin authors, including Martial and Pliny, affirmed that the well-being of the soul and the body should be sought after in places away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The ideal place was identified with the suburban villa, which is an architectural complex away from the urban centre; a place intended for practising otium, which means contemplation and study. We are about to visit a wonderful villa reserved for otium. It was built overlooking the sea in the ancient city of Oplontis, rich in rooms, gardens and unique frescoes. Before the eruption, the villa overlooked the gulf which is almost 500 meters from us now. While crossing the frescoed halls and walking by the pool, we will imagine we can still feel the breeze and the scent of the sea. The villa is called Poppea's Villa since the discovery on this site of an amphora featuring an inscription that refers to Poppea Sabina's family. She was a beautiful woman and Emperor Nero's second wife. The villa was buried following the volcanic eruption in 79 AD, while it probably was under renovation or expansion works - which were frequent in its 150 years of existence. Poppea's Villa was partly excavated during the excavations of Pompeii carried out in the Bourbon age, but only in 1964 systematic excavations and studies of the area started.

The Oplontis villa is located within the modern city of Torre Annunziata, about 3 kilometers from ancient Pompeii. It's named Villa Poppaea, after Emperor Nero's wife, thanks to a graffiti that bears that name. You'll explore this huge villa, with about 90 rooms, which was built along the coast of Campania and preserves the most extraordinary frescoes found in the Vesuvian area. Your guided tour starts from the northern garden, continues to the spa area and in all the southern areas with striking frescoes in Second Style and Third Style of ancient Roman painting. A long portico leads to the patronal and servile atrium, and nearby you can see some perfectly preserved latrines! You'll pass through a wide and long corridor to the eastern peristyle surrounded by finely decorated rooms, with a huge swimming pool at the center, which was surrounded by bronze and marble statues. Your licensed guide will show you the structure of the villa, and its many gardens, halls, corridors, an inner spa district, the triclinium communicating with the kitchen, rest areas, bathrooms for men and women, servant areas, a peristyle with fountain, and a huge 70-meter swimming pool overlooked by representative rooms frescoed with paintings that probably merged with planted plant elements. When you explore, look out for the refined and sumptuous pictorial decorations scattered throughout the villa. The most significant frescoes are those of the Tuscan-style Atrium, including the famous wicker basket with figs and the sanctuary of Apollo.