With a square footage of 3500 square meters consisting of gardens, pools, and a large peristyle that revolved around the most important rooms of the mansion, it is by far the largest house in all of Pompeii’s excavations.
This is one of the suburban villas located just outside the walls of Pompeii, and we are not talking about the very famous Villa of the Mysteries, renowned for its marvelous frescoes.
But of another villa adjacent to the latter, Villa Diomede.
Villa Diomede along with the rest of the city of Pompeii, was buried completely during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. And it was one of the first buildings to be unearthed during excavations between 1771 and 1775.
The features of Villa Diomede, the largest house in Pompei
Located near the Herculaneum Gate, it owes its name to Marcus Arrius Diomedes, a freedman, whose tomb lies opposite the entrance to the domus.
Villa Diomedes was spread over an area of 3500 square meters on three floors, with terraces set at different levels facing the sea.
The second floor consisted of several living rooms arranged around the upper peristyle.
Below this one could reach by a staircase the lower peristyle, consisting of 17 columns on each side, which surrounded the large garden covered by a pergola probably used for summer banquets . In the center a sumptuous and very large pool with rectangular and curved niches.
A very large, precious dwelling, a destination of choice for all nineteenth-century travelers, as evidenced by the numerous graffiti found inside the villa, including that of the Count of Cavour.
Today, thanks to the Pompeii for All project, Villa Diomede can be visited via walkways even by people with disabilities or in wheelchairs.
With its square footage of 3500 square meters, it is therefore one of the largest houses in Pompeii.
Another great dwelling in Pompeii
But Pompeii had no shortage of large dwellings. Within the walls of the ancient city, however, we find the very famous House of the Faun with an area of about 3,000 square meters.
Known worldwide for the bronze statue of a dancing satyr found in the house’s impluvium, from which it takes its name.
This ancient dwelling was originally small in size compared to the present one characterized by the presence of a large vegetable garden. Then later it was enlarged through the amalgamation of other nearby dwellings, reaching the present size of 3000 square meters.
For this reason, the faun house today is presented as consisting of two atria and two peristyles.
The importance of these great mansions
These domus represent an impressive record of Roman architecture and art in the ancient city of Pompeii. The vastness, decorations, and objects found within them provide us with a valuable window into the life and culture of the time. These extraordinary dwellings allow us to imagine and discover even more of what life was like in ancient Pompeii, with its festivals, ceremonies, and luxury.
A new part completely different from the rest of the city of Pompeii, which consisted mostly of small dwellings that reached up to 12 sq. m.
These residences show the two opposite sides of Pompeii itself. Composed on the one hand by immense and sumptuous villas and on the other by small, humble and sober houses.
But Villa Diomede also offers us further evidence that it represents not only the largest house in Pompeii, but an imposing villa that belonged to a freedman.
That is, of a slave who later became a free man, who in spite of his social status was able to build up such powerful wealth that he became the master of one of the largest domus in Pompeii.
This is an important and fundamental testimony that offers a valuable and by no means obvious clue about the society of ancient Pompeii.
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