House of the Silver Wedding
Encyclopedia
The House of the Silver Wedding is the name given to the archaeological remains of a Roman house in Pompeii
, buried in the ash from the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius
. The house was excavated in 1893 and was named after the silver wedding anniversary of Umberto and Margherita of Savoy
which took place in that year.
The house is in the last side street off Via Vesuvio, next to an as-yet unexcavated part of the site. Built sometime around 300 BC and renovated in the early 1st century AD, it was the domus
of a wealthy resident. Its architecture is classical and it bears fine decoration such as the atrium which has four tall Corinthian
columns supporting the roof, and an elegantly ornamented exedra
. There are two gardens: the largest with a central pool and a triclinium
; the other with a bath-house, open-air swimming pool, kitchen, and a living room that has a mosaic floor, wall paintings and a barrel-vaulted ceiling supported by four octagonal columns decorated in imitation of porphyry
.
Pompeii
The city of Pompeii is a partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, Pompeii was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning...
, buried in the ash from the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius
Mount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, about east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, although it is not currently erupting...
. The house was excavated in 1893 and was named after the silver wedding anniversary of Umberto and Margherita of Savoy
Umberto I of Italy
Umberto I or Humbert I , nicknamed the Good , was the King of Italy from 9 January 1878 until his death. He was deeply loathed in far-left circles, especially among anarchists, because of his conservatism and support of the Bava-Beccaris massacre in Milan...
which took place in that year.
The house is in the last side street off Via Vesuvio, next to an as-yet unexcavated part of the site. Built sometime around 300 BC and renovated in the early 1st century AD, it was the domus
Domus
In ancient Rome, the domus was the type of house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. They could be found in almost all the major cities throughout the Roman territories...
of a wealthy resident. Its architecture is classical and it bears fine decoration such as the atrium which has four tall Corinthian
Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...
columns supporting the roof, and an elegantly ornamented exedra
Exedra
In architecture, an exedra is a semicircular recess or plinth, often crowned by a semi-dome, which is sometimes set into a building's facade. The original Greek sense was applied to a room that opened onto a stoa, ringed with curved high-backed stone benches, a suitable place for a philosophical...
. There are two gardens: the largest with a central pool and a triclinium
Triclinium
A triclinium is a formal dining room in a Roman building. The word is adopted from the Greek τρικλίνιον, triklinion, from τρι-, tri-, "three", and κλίνη, klinē, a sort of "couch" or rather chaise longue...
; the other with a bath-house, open-air swimming pool, kitchen, and a living room that has a mosaic floor, wall paintings and a barrel-vaulted ceiling supported by four octagonal columns decorated in imitation of porphyry
Porphyry (geology)
Porphyry is a variety of igneous rock consisting of large-grained crystals, such as feldspar or quartz, dispersed in a fine-grained feldspathic matrix or groundmass. The larger crystals are called phenocrysts...
.