From March 26th the museum opens to the public House of the Gem, jewel of the Archaeological Park of Herculaneum, famous for its precious floor mosaics.
This new visit opportunity, the result of the experimental approach of the multidisciplinary open lab, accompanies the arrival of spring at the Park, continuing until the month of June.
The House of the Gem takes its name from the discovery of a gem with the image of Livia mistakenly attributed to this house, while in reality it comes from the House of Granianus, which was once part of a single large domus with a panoramic view of the sea, probably belonging to the family of Marcus Nonius Balbus, and has in the triclinium one of the most beautiful black and white geometric mosaics of the whole of Herculaneum.
"The insula Orientalis I, where the Casa della Gemma is located, features mosaics of exceptional value: with this project, which also involved the Houses of the Relief of Telephus, Granianus and the Deer, we have restored the most delicate mosaics of the site. Furthermore, the meticulous work in the Casa della Gemma has allowed us to completely recover the floor surfaces so as to allow visits, albeit in an experimental manner. – declares the Director Francesco Sirano – We are creating the conditions to expand the route in the archaeological site and share elements and spaces of the ancient city that have been removed from the direct experience of visitors for too many years. The aim of our work is to enhance the site for an increasingly wider audience, curious and aware of the cultural values and the delicacy of the UNESCO heritage".
Jane Thompson, Project Manager of Herculaneum Conservation, recalls that “The long journey that the opening of the Casa della Gemma represents today is a beautiful tribute to the “site-scale” approach that has been in place for over 15 years thanks to the partnership with PHI which, instead of supporting exhaustive projects on some domus, has improved and continues to improve the general conditions of the entire site. Working in this way – concludes Jane Thompson – and thanks to restoration campaigns like this one on the mosaics, we arrive at such important results, such as the reopening to the public of spaces that have been closed for a long time".
Open every day from 09:30 to 13:00 (Wednesday is the weekly closing day of the Park).
Access to the Casa della Gemma is permitted to groups of up to 20 people at a time. For further information, please visit the website www.ercolano.beniculturali.it
Article published on March 25, 2022 - 18pm
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