These are the structures of the parts of the villa that have been excavated. A vast majority of this residence still remains buried.
The garden surrounds the villa and is enclosed by porticoes. There are several vineyards and vegetable gardens leading to the harbor. These gardens also included numerous statues and busts.
In ancient Roman (and even modern) architecture, the atrium is a sunlight open area that’s surrounded by a building. The atrium in Herculaneum worked as the entrance to the villa and connected the various parts of the house. Around 11 statues line the atrium, depicting Satyrs pouring water. Many other statues and busts also line the atrium walls.
The peristyle in Herculaneum, another open air structure, is flanked by 10 columns on each side with a long pool in the middle. After the tablinum (a reception area that opens out to another peristyle in the rear) is a second peristyle.
King Charles of Bourbon was delighted to find precious marble sculptures (around 24 of them) within the villa’s folds. Besides this, there were also bronze sculptures (roughly 63) of figures like Pan and Homer. Many of them are now found in the National Archeological Museum of Naples, or the Getty Museum in Malibu. Notable ones include a bust of Athena, a statue of a seated Hermes in contemplation and a controversial sculpture of Pan copulating with a goat.
In Malibu, a carefully reconstructed version of the villa exists — by name of the Getty Museum, designed by the millionaire J Getty. Since the entirety of the original villa in Herculaneum could not be excavated, Getty relied on the meticulous floor plan designed by Karl Weber in the 1700s to build the museum.
The Getty museum now has important artifacts rescued from Herculaneum, including the statue of the drunken satyr, some papyri, the figures of the runners, and more.
In the 1750s, diggers near the site stumbled upon the polychromatic marble flooring that was part of the Villa of the Papyri. Under the aegis of Karl Weber, tunnels were dug into the villa’s depths to further explore it. Although Weber’s superiors were more interested in pillaging the finds from the villa, Weber carefully drew a floorplan of the villa, documenting where each object was found and generally laying out the map of the building.
Yes, a visit to the villa is included in your Herculaneum entry ticket. However, this attraction is currently closed due to restoration efforts.
You’re right to wonder what the hype behind the Villa of the Papyri is all about. For starters, the Villa of the Papyri was not an ordinary luxurious country house. Reminiscent of Hellenistic palaces, the villa could only belong to the uppermost echelons of Roman aristocracy. It derives its name from the nearly 1100-odd papyrus scrolls that were carbonized by the eruption — and efforts to decipher them have yielded intriguing insights into Epicurean philosophy and thought. Experts believe that a full understanding of these texts would shed light on the intellectual and cultural milieu of the time, changing the way we think about ancient Roman life. Besides this, it also had rare collections of precious artifacts including statues, sculptures and frescoes that are now housed either at the Getty Museum in Malibu or the National Archeological Museum of Naples.
Inside the villa, the scrolls were found inside a room that resembled a library. They were found in black casings on shelves and open cabinets.
The villa is situated about 150 yards away from the main Herculaneum ruins, and runs parallel to the coastline.
While the Villa is known for the papyrus scrolls found in its library, it also hosted an impressive collection of bronze statues and marble sculptures, frescoes, furniture, etc.
Visiting the Getty Museum in Malibu is a great option as it is modeled on the floorplan of the actual Villa of the Papyri. Visitors can get a feel of what the interiors looked like, replete with the atrium, peristyle and tablinum. It also houses a significant collection of artworks rescued from the original villa.