House of Citharist (Reg I, Ins 4, 5)

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The House of Citharist (or the House of the Lyre Player) is one of Pompeii's largest aristocratic houses, created by joining No 5 in Insula 4 with No 25 (nominally the House of L. Rapinasi Optati). .. .. Also in Naples are many of the paintings that adorned the walls of the house. In fact, all that is left in the actual house are faded traces of what was probably one of the wealthiest homes in Pompeii. An example of the condition of the remaining frescoes is shown bottom left. ..

. The house has three peristyles on several levels and derives its name from a fine bronze statue of Apollo Citharoedus (left) found in the middle one (the original statue can now be seen in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples). .. .. A bronze group of a boar being attacked by dogs was found near the piscina, a copy of which is on display (above and below). The original statue group is on display in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. ..

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Although much has been removed, the house's architectural layout is still interesting, as is the bathing area by the first atrium, with its tepidarium and caldarium supplied with water from the furnace in the adjacent kitchen. ..

House of the Ceii (Reg I, Ins 6, 15)

Outside, the front of the house is faced with stucco in imitation opus quadratum. The roof overhangs the footway and entrance to the building is by way of a simple, but elegant doorway. It has a simple layout: the entrance leading to a small, columned atrium (pictured above). A staircase with a wall in opus craticium leads to the upper floor while at the rear of the atrium a corridor leads to the garden. ..

The house is also known under two other titles - the House of L. Ceius Secundus whose name is mentioned in a campaign message painted on the house's facade (pictured left) and also as the House of Fabia and Tyrannus. .. .. The rooms of the house are richly decorated in late third or fourth style, with floors of opus signinum. .. Many of the original frescoes are still in-situ - the photograph (top above) is from one of the rooms in the house.

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The garden has a canal that was fed by a fountain opposite a sphinx on the other side, with a basin to receive the water. There is a large hunt scene painted on the back wall (pictured above left with a detail above right). The side walls of the garden carry Egyptian landscapes (with pygmies, hippopotami, crocodiles and Egyptian style buildings) which were popular at the time of the eruption.

House of Paquius Proculus (Reg I, Ins 7, 1)

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This house, otherwise known as the House of Cuspius Pansa was excavated between 1923 and 1926. It is a relatively small building, but it does possess a large peristyle and some fine decorative details. .. It had extensive mosaic flooring, from the entrance vestibule with its mosaic of a dog chained to a door (right), through to the atrium (pictured far right) which is literally covered with fine mosaic panels of animals framed with decorative borders. ..

Around the impluvium the mosaic depicts an arched colonnade with symbolic figures between some of the columns. In the centre of the triclinium is an Egyptian scene of the Nile valley. The garden contained an unusually shaped fountain. Several skeletons of children were discovered in a room off the peristyle. The portrait of Paquius Procolus and his wife, pictured left, was found in the house and can now be seen at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.

House of the Orchard (Reg I, Ins 9, 5-7)

This house, On Via del Abbondanza, is also known as the House of Euplia and the House of the Floral Cubicula. The last house on the block, it is the simple, yet elegant home of a fruit grower. ..

.. The house is not very large, with an atrium leading via the tablinum to a small peristyle. At the entrance to the house is a cast of the original wooden door. The atrium and the tablinum are decorated in some very fine frescoes depicting fruit trees. The frescoes in the atrium are on a blue background, while those in the tablinum are on black.The decoration gives the impression of viewing a garden from a white pergola.

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Along with birds, snakes and other animals, different trees can be identified - oleanders, laurel, myrtle, lemon and cherry. Between the plants in the frescoes are Egyptian style statues.. ..

House of Menander (Reg I, Ins 10, 4)

This house once belonged to Quintus Poppeus, a relative of Poppea Sabina, the second wife of Nero. The house is so called after a famous painting of the Greek playwright Menander found in an exedra at the back of the peristyle. .. It was originally built in the 3rd century BC and was added to and altered many times over its history. .. The atrium is decorated in fourth style paintings depicting scenes from the Illiad. The andron connecting the atrium with the tablinum is lined with columns decorated with stucco. .. The west side of the peristyle consists of private baths which are centered on a columned atrium. After the dressing room is the caldarium with fourth style frescos. On the west side of the atrium is a sun terrace. ..

.. Beyond the tablinum is the peristyle and, on the right, the so called Green Room, decorated with murals and a mosaic floor depicting scenes of the Nile. .. .. The southern side of the peristyle has a series of rectangular and semi-circular exedras. The first exedra contains a lararium while in the third is the famous painting of Menander (below left).

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.. The servants' quarters were reached via a ramp near the eastern corner of the peristyle. Here are to be found a stable, store-rooms, a latrine and, on the upper floor, accommodation for the servants. This area had a separate entrance via the quarters of the procurator or house manager, a man by the name of Eros as his seal tells us. His body was found in a cubicle next to his life savings.

A small chapel lararium for worshiping the wax busts of household ancestors (imagines maiorum) was built into the last semi-circular niche. .. On the eastern side of the peristyle is an oecus with yellow walls painted in the fourth style with Dionysiac motifs and pictures. The adjacent triclinium, the largest found in Pompeii, has a large window with pediment. .. Pictured below is a small four brick pillared atrium to be found at the rear of the property. ..

House of the Ship Europa (Reg I, Ins 15, 3)

.. The rooms of the house open onto this peristyle (pictured above and below), from which the houses extensive garden can also be accessed. ..

This house lies opposite a garum workshop whose containers and amphorae can still be seen, awaiting shipping. The house is so called because of the wall painting on the north side of the peristyle depicting a cargo ship and its life-boat with the inscription 'Europa'. The name alludes to the Greek heroine kidnapped at sea by Jupiter. .. .. During excavations in the garden late last century roots from a vegetable garden and orchard were uncovered. The plants grown included beans, onions and cabbage, grapes,cherries, peaches and lemons, which were held in high regard for their medicinal qualities. Seeds and seedlings from some exotic plants including pistachio trees which were spread from the Orient were kept in 28 terra-cotta vases found along the boundary wall. It would also seem that animals were raised in stalls at the back of the garden.

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