Pompeii interactive map

Forum Foro di Pompei

Must-see Open all year Vesuvius view. The long square at the heart of the city, a short walk up Via Marina from Porta Marina. Address VII.8. About 20 minutes.

The heart of public life, with Vesuvius rising behind the Temple of Jupiter at the north end of the square.

The Forum was the centre of public life in Pompeii. Around the long square stood the Basilica, the Temple of Apollo, the Macellum, the Building of Eumachia and, at the north end with Vesuvius behind it, the Temple of Jupiter. Statues of local notables once lined the square. Many buildings were still being repaired after the earthquake of 62 AD when Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD.

Look for

• The row of empty statue bases along the west side, where statues of local notables once stood
• The old tufa columns along the south end, put up before Pompeii became a Roman colony

Did you know? The square looks bare because its statues and marble were stripped in ancient times, soon after the eruption.

Temple of Apollo Tempio di Apollo

Must-see Open all year Bronze Apollo (copy). On the west side of the Forum, next to the Basilica. About 10 minutes.

One of the oldest sanctuaries in the city, with Apollo and Diana as archers.

The sanctuary of Apollo stands on the west side of the Forum. Worship here goes back to the 6th century BC; the temple as you see it dates from the 2nd century BC. A bronze Apollo and a bronze bust of Diana, both shooting arrows, stood in front of the portico columns. The ones here today are copies; the originals are in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.

Look for

• Apollo drawing his bow on the east side of the courtyard, and Diana on the west side (both copies)
• The white marble altar before the temple steps, inscribed with the names of the four magistrates who had it built

Did you know? When it was dug up in 1817 it was first taken for a temple of Venus, then of Mercury, before it was recognised as Apollo's.

Antiquarium (site museum) Antiquarium di Pompei

Open all year Below the Temple of Venus, just inside Porta Marina. About 30 minutes.

Pompeii's own museum, where a marble relief shows the Forum shaken by the earthquake of 62 AD.

The Antiquarium is Pompeii's own museum, set below the terrace of the Temple of Venus beside Porta Marina. Its rooms, laid out anew in January 2021, trace the town's story from the Samnite period of the 4th century BC to the eruption of 79 AD. Highlights include a marble relief that shows the Temple of Jupiter and an arch shaken by the earthquake of 62 AD, a statue of Livia from the Villa of the Mysteries and stone balls fired by catapults. It is indoors and out of the sun, with toilets just before the entrance and a bookshop, so it makes a good first or last stop.

Look for

• The marble relief from a house shrine showing the Temple of Jupiter and a falling arch in the 62 AD earthquake
• The marble statue of Livia, wife of Augustus, found in the Villa of the Mysteries

Did you know? Built in the 1870s and bombed in 1943, the museum was shut for 36 years after the 1980 earthquake and reopened only in 2016.

Basilica Basilica di Pompei

Open all year At the south-west corner of the Forum, on Via Marina. Address VIII.1.1. About 10 minutes.

Where Pompeians went to court and struck deals: one of the oldest basilicas in the Roman world.

Built in the late 2nd century BC, the Basilica was where justice was done and business deals were made. Rows of tall brick columns divided the great hall, and a raised tribunal at the far end was the seat of the magistrates. Graffiti scratched into its walls are among the many everyday inscriptions that survive in Pompeii.

Look for

• The raised tribunal at the far end of the hall, where the judges sat
• Wall plaster moulded to look like blocks of coloured marble, the oldest style of Pompeian wall decoration

Did you know? One graffito found here says its writer is amazed the wall has not collapsed under so much tedious scribbling.

Forum Granary and the casts Granai del Foro

Not on view at the moment On the west side of the Forum, north of the Temple of Apollo. Address VII.7.29.

The Forum's big storeroom of finds, not on view for now; for casts of victims, head to the Large Palaestra.

This market building on the west side of the Forum was probably still unfinished in 79 AD and later became the largest store of finds in the city, from amphorae to cooking pots. Visitors used to look through its bars at these finds and at plaster casts of victims, but it is now temporarily closed to view. Since 12 March 2026 a permanent exhibition in the Large Palaestra, by the Amphitheatre, has shown 22 casts of victims of the eruption. The casts were made by pouring plaster into the hollows the bodies left in the hardened ash, a method Giuseppe Fiorelli developed in 1863.

Look for

• Its front of eight openings between brick pillars, on the west side of the Forum

Did you know? More than 9,000 finds are stored here, from cooking pots to the amphorae that carried wine, oil and fish sauce around the Mediterranean.

From outside: Its brick-pillared front still lines the west side of the Forum, but the finds behind it are not on view for now.

Macellum (food market) Macellum

Open all year At the north-east corner of the Forum. Address VII.9.7. About 10 minutes.

The town's food market, where fish were gutted and sold under a roof in the middle of the courtyard.

The Macellum was Pompeii's food market. Shops opened onto the street and onto the inner courtyard, where a roofed structure on twelve bases was used to clean and sell fish. A room on the east side served the cult of the emperors. The building had still not been fully repaired after the earthquake of 62 AD when Vesuvius erupted.

Look for

• The twelve stone bases in the middle of the courtyard, which held up the roof over the fish stall
• The painting of Io with her guard Argus, on the west wall near the north-west corner

Did you know? The twelve bases were first taken for a temple to many gods, until fish bones and scales in the drain showed what went on here.

Temple of Jupiter Tempio di Giove

Open all year At the north end of the Forum. Address VII.8.1. About 5 minutes.

Pompeii's chief temple, still unrepaired after the earthquake of 62 AD, with Vesuvius rising behind it.

Built in the 2nd century BC, the temple was first dedicated to Jupiter alone and later to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, the gods of Rome's Capitol. It stands on a high podium, once flanked by two honorary arches; the brick arch on its west side still stands. Damaged in the earthquake of 62 AD, it had not been rebuilt by 79 AD.

Look for

• The brick arch to the left of the temple, once faced with marble; only foundations are left of its twin on the right
• Vesuvius rising straight behind the temple, which was built in line with the mountain

Did you know? A marble relief from the house shrine of Caecilius Iucundus shows this temple and a falling arch in the 62 AD earthquake; it is now in the Antiquarium.

Building of Eumachia Edificio di Eumachia

Open all year On the east side of the Forum, at the corner of Via dell'Abbondanza. Address VII.9.1. About 10 minutes.

A grand hall paid for by Eumachia, a priestess and one of the richest women in Pompeii.

Eumachia, a public priestess and one of the richest women in Pompeii, paid for this building on the Forum in the early 1st century AD. The fullers, the city's cloth workers, set up a statue of her here. What the building was used for is still debated: a guild hall, a cloth market or a monument to the imperial family. The fine marble doorframe with acanthus scrolls at the entrance was found in the Forum and set up here in modern times; it probably came from the temple next door.

Look for

• The marble doorframe carved with acanthus scrolls full of small animals, set up here in modern times
• Eumachia's statue in a niche of the back corridor, paid for by the fullers (a copy)

Did you know? Eumachia's own large tomb still stands in the cemetery outside the Nocera Gate, on the other side of town.

Forum Baths Terme del Foro

Men's section open Just north of the Forum, behind the Temple of Jupiter. Address VII.5.2. About 15 minutes.

Small baths behind the Temple of Jupiter, where the bronze brazier that heated the warm room still stands.

The Forum Baths were built around 80 BC, soon after Pompeii became a Roman colony, with separate sections for men and women. In the warm room of the men's side, standing terracotta figures of men hold up a shelf above the niches for clothes, and the vault keeps part of its stucco decoration.

Look for

• The bronze brazier and benches in the warm room, gifts of Nigidius Vaccula, with a little cow as a pun on his name
• The terracotta men holding up the shelf above the clothes niches, in the same room

Did you know? More than 500 oil lamps were found at the entrance to the men's baths, used to light them when they opened in the evening.

Temple of Venus Tempio di Venere

Open all year On the terrace just inside Porta Marina, beside Via Marina. Address VIII.1.3. About 10 minutes.

The temple of Pompeii's patron goddess, high above the sea gate and still being rebuilt in 79 AD.

Venus was the protector of the Roman colony founded in 80 BC, and her temple stood on a high terrace near Porta Marina, looking out to the sea, which then came much closer to the city. It was being rebuilt after the earthquake of 62 AD, so little of it is left.

Look for

• A lone column with a Corinthian capital standing among the temple's scattered marble fragments

Did you know? A gold lamp weighing 896 grams, said to be a gift from the emperor Nero, was found here; it is now in the Naples museum.

House of Menander Casa del Menandro

Must-see Open all year Portrait of Menander. South of Via dell'Abbondanza, on Vicolo del Menandro. Address I.10.4. About 30 minutes.

One of Pompeii's grandest houses, where 118 pieces of family silver lay hidden in a cellar.

The house covers about 1,800 square metres and was excavated between the late 1920s and 1932. It is named after a painting of the Greek poet Menander in the garden portico. In a cellar the excavators found a treasure of 118 pieces of silver tableware, now in Naples. The house even had its own baths.

Look for

• The seated poet Menander in an alcove off the garden portico; his name is painted on his cloak
• Mosaic floors in the small private bath rooms off the garden portico, one with a sea theme

Did you know? The plaster busts in the garden shrine were cast from the hollows left in the ash by the family's wooden ancestor portraits.

House of the Faun Casa del Fauno

Must-see Open all year Alexander Mosaic (copy). On Via della Fortuna, north of the Forum. About 20 minutes.

A house so large it fills a whole block, home of the dancing faun and the Alexander Mosaic.

Built in the 2nd century BC, the House of the Faun fills a whole block and was one of the most luxurious homes of its time. It is named after the bronze dancing faun in its atrium; the statue here is a copy. The Alexander Mosaic, showing Alexander the Great fighting the Persian king Darius, lay in a room between its two gardens. The originals of both are in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.

Look for

• The word HAVE, Latin for welcome, set into the pavement in front of the door
• The Alexander Mosaic in the room between the two gardens (a copy; the original is in Naples)

Did you know? The dancing satyr may be a pun: the owners were probably the Satrii family, whose name echoes the word satyr.

House of the Vettii Casa dei Vettii

Must-see Open all year Finest frescoes. In the north of the city, on Vicolo dei Vettii. Address VI.15.1. About 20 minutes.

The home of two freed slaves who grew rich, with some of the finest frescoes in Pompeii.

The house belonged to Aulus Vettius Conviva and Aulus Vettius Restitutus, two former slaves who made their fortune, probably in trade. Its rooms were repainted after the earthquake of 62 AD, and a large reception room with friezes of cupids at work is famous. A painting of Priapus guards the entrance. The house reopened in 2023 after a long restoration.

Look for

• Priapus weighing his huge phallus on a pair of scales, painted on the right just inside the entrance
• The frieze of tiny cupids making perfume, selling wine and making jewellery, in a large room off the garden

Did you know? The Priapus painting was once kept in a locked case, and custodians would open it for tourists who gave them a tip.

House of Octavius Quartio Casa di Ottavio Quartione

Open all year On Via dell'Abbondanza, near the Amphitheatre. Address II.2.2. About 30 minutes.

A town house built like a little country villa, with long water channels, fountains and outdoor couches.

Behind the house lies a large garden with a long water channel, a pergola, fountains and outdoor dining couches, like a small country villa inside the city. It was long called the House of Loreius Tiburtinus; a seal found inside names Octavius Quartio as the owner. Paintings with myths decorate the garden rooms.

Look for

• The plaster cast of the ancient wooden door at the entrance
• The outdoor dining couches by the upper water channel, with paintings of Narcissus and of Pyramus and Thisbe

Did you know? On one of the outdoor dining couches the painter signed his work, 'Lucius pinxit', Lucius painted it, a rare artist's signature in Pompeii.

House of Venus in the Shell Casa della Venere in Conchiglia

Open all year On Vicolo della Venere, just off Via dell'Abbondanza near the Amphitheatre. Address II.3.3. About 15 minutes.

A painted Venus lying in a seashell makes this small garden look far bigger than it is.

On the back wall of the small garden, a large painting shows Venus lying in a seashell with cupids beside her, painted to make the garden look bigger. It is one of the best-known paintings in Pompeii. The house was hit by bombs in 1943 and restored afterwards.

Look for

• Venus on the garden's back wall, lying in a seashell, wearing only jewellery, with two cupids beside her
• The side panels: Mars with spear and shield on the left, birds drinking at a fountain on the right

Did you know? Venus was the town's patron goddess: as a Roman colony from 80 BC, Pompeii was officially Colonia Cornelia Veneria Pompeianorum.

House of the Tragic Poet Casa del Poeta Tragico

Open all year Opposite the Forum Baths, on Via delle Terme. Address VI.8.5. About 10 minutes.

A small house with a mosaic dog at the door and the warning Cave Canem.

The house is small, but its decoration is of the highest quality. It is named after a mosaic of actors preparing for a play, now in Naples. At the entrance a floor mosaic shows a chained dog with the words Cave Canem, beware of the dog. The house, found in 1824, inspired the home of Glaucus in Edward Bulwer-Lytton's novel The Last Days of Pompeii.

Look for

• The chained dog and the words CAVE CANEM, beware of the dog, in the floor of the front entrance, under glass
• The little shrine for the household gods in the small garden behind the atrium

Did you know? It is also called the Homeric House, after the scenes from the Iliad painted on its walls, now mostly in the Naples museum.

Estate of Julia Felix Praedia di Giulia Felice

Closed at the moment On Via dell'Abbondanza, one block west of the Amphitheatre. Address II.4.3.

A businesswoman's estate: Julia Felix rented out its baths, shops and flats after the earthquake.

After the earthquake of 62 AD, Julia Felix turned part of her estate into a business: a painted notice offered elegant baths, shops and flats for rent. The property covers a whole block, with gardens, a fish pond and porticoes. It was one of the first houses to be excavated, in the 1750s.

Look for

• The brick doorway with a small pediment on Via dell'Abbondanza, the entrance to her rented-out baths

Did you know? Her painted ad offered five-year leases; its last line, written in initials, is read as barring tenants who ran a brothel.

From outside: Closed, but on Via dell'Abbondanza you can see the brick doorway with a small pediment that led into her baths.

House of Julius Polybius Casa di Giulio Polibio

Closed at the moment On the north side of Via dell'Abbondanza. Address IX.13.1-3.

A grand house on the main street, where thirteen people sheltered from the eruption.

The house belonged to the family of Gaius Julius Polybius, whose name appears on many election notices. Its tall front on the Via dell'Abbondanza still has First Style decoration from the 2nd century BC, and the rooms behind it are richly painted. The remains of thirteen people who had sheltered here were found inside.

Look for

• The tall front on Via dell'Abbondanza: high doorways framed in stucco, with upper-floor windows above

Did you know? The group sheltering here, including a young woman near the end of her pregnancy, held out for over 19 hours, a 2008 study found.

From outside: Closed, but from Via dell'Abbondanza you can see its tall front with stucco-framed doorways and upper windows.

House of Leda and the Swan Casa di Leda e il Cigno

Seen from outside On Via del Vesuvio, in the new excavations of Regio V. Address V.6.12.

Found only in 2018: a bedroom painting of Leda and the swan in remarkably fresh colours.

In 2018, new excavations in Regio V uncovered a bedroom with a fresco of Leda, queen of Sparta, and Jupiter in the form of a swan, in remarkably fresh colours. The find was part of digs that keep changing what we know about Pompeii's last years.

Look for

• The Leda fresco in the bedroom, seen over the low wall from the walkway on Via del Vesuvio

Did you know? The same 2018 digs in Regio V found a charcoal note dated 17 October, a sign the eruption came in autumn, not on 24 August.

From outside: Not open inside, but from the walkway on Via del Vesuvio you can look over the wall into the bedroom with the fresco.

House of Lucius Caecilius Iucundus Casa di Lucio Cecilio Giocondo

Closed at the moment On Via del Vesuvio, north of the Central Baths. Address V.1.26.

Home of the real Caecilius, the Pompeii banker who stars in the Cambridge Latin Course.

Lucius Caecilius Iucundus was an auctioneer and banker. More than 150 wax tablets with records of his business were found in his house. A relief from the household shrine shows the earthquake of 62 AD shaking the Forum.

Look for

• A black mosaic dog on the floor just inside the door, visible through the gate, greeting visitors
• The tall tuff doorway with its stone cornice, from a house first built in the 2nd century BC

Did you know? One of the shrine's earthquake reliefs, stolen in 1975, turned up in 2023 set into a staircase wall in a Belgian home, bought as a holiday souvenir.

From outside: Closed, but through the gate on Via del Vesuvio you can see the mosaic dog in the entrance and the atrium beyond.

House of Marcus Lucretius Fronto Casa di Marco Lucrezio Frontone

Closed at the moment In Regio V, north of Via di Nola. Address V.4.A.

Behind a plain front lies one of Pompeii's most elegant homes, with myths painted on black walls.

Despite its modest size, the house has very fine wall paintings, many on black backgrounds with small landscapes and myths. The owner is known as Marcus Lucretius Fronto from election notices.

Did you know? A bedroom painting shows the Roman tale of Pero, who fed her starving father in prison from her own breast; a Latin inscription sits beside it.

From outside: Closed; through the gated door you can only glimpse the dark entrance corridor leading to the atrium.

House of Sallust Casa di Sallustio

Closed at the moment On Via Consolare, the road to the Herculaneum Gate. Address VI.2.4.

A grand house of the 2nd century BC that later seems to have become an inn, on the road to Herculaneum.

Built in the 2nd century BC, the house still shows much of its early plan. It is named after an election notice for Gaius Sallustius painted on its front. Later, part of the house seems to have served as an inn, with shops and a bakery along the street.

Look for

• The severe front of large limestone blocks on Via Consolare, kept from the 2nd century BC

Did you know? Its bronze group of Hercules and the stag, from the edge of the atrium pool, ended up not in Naples but in the museum in Palermo.

From outside: From Via Consolare you can still see its severe front of big limestone blocks, with shop doorways on either side.

House of the Chaste Lovers Casa dei Casti Amanti

Open all year On the north side of Via dell'Abbondanza, east of Via Stabiana. Address IX.12.6. About 15 minutes.

A rich baker's home, with a painting of a couple sharing a kiss at a banquet.

The house is named after a fresco of a banquet in which a couple shares a gentle kiss. It was joined to a bakery whose mills and oven survive. The skeletons of several mules, which turned the millstones, were found in the stables.

Look for

• Banquet paintings in the dining room; in one, a couple shares a kiss
• The bakery's big oven, with the stone bases of its mills beside it

Did you know? In the next house, painters were at work in 79 AD and left their pictures half done, with sketches on the walls and cups still full of colour.

House of the Golden Cupids Casa degli Amorini Dorati

Open 15 Oct to 15 Mar In the north of the city, near the House of the Vettii. Address VI.16.7. About 15 minutes.

A refined house with a stage-like garden, named after gold-leaf cupids found in a bedroom.

The house has a garden on different levels, set like a stage, once decorated with marble reliefs and theatre masks. Its name comes from glass medallions with cupids in gold leaf found in a bedroom. It may have belonged to a family related to Poppaea, the wife of the emperor Nero.

Look for

• The painted shrine to Egyptian gods, with Isis, Serapis and jackal-headed Anubis, in a corner of the garden
• The raised west side of the garden, where taller columns carry a pediment like a stage set

Did you know? The gold-leaf cupids that name the house are no longer on the wall: one disc is in the Naples museum and a half-disc was lost to a 1943 bomb.

From outside: In summer, when it is closed, you see only its doorway on Via del Vesuvio; it opens from 15 October to 15 March.

House of the Silver Wedding Casa delle Nozze d'Argento

Open 15 Oct to 15 Mar In the north of Regio V, on Vicolo delle Nozze d'Argento. Address V.2.I. About 20 minutes.

Named after the silver wedding of Italy's king and queen, who visited the excavations in 1893.

The house was excavated in the early 1890s and named after the 25th wedding anniversary of King Umberto I and Queen Margherita, celebrated in 1893. Four tall columns rise in its atrium, and the rooms were richly painted.

Look for

• Four tall tuff columns in the atrium, under a rebuilt roof with an opening for the rain
• A lion-head water spout from the roof, now displayed on a wall in the room beyond the atrium

Did you know? Past the atrium, a side garden holds the owners' private baths and an open-air plunge pool.

From outside: When closed, look through the gate on Vicolo delle Nozze d'Argento down the corridor to the tall atrium columns.

House of the Surgeon Casa del Chirurgo

Closed at the moment On Via Consolare, north of the House of Sallust. Address VI.1.10.

Named after the medical instruments found inside; one of the oldest houses in Pompeii.

The house was excavated in 1770 and 1771 and named after the surgical instruments found there. Its front of large limestone blocks marks it as one of the oldest houses of the city, built around 200 BC, and a key example of the early Pompeian house built around an atrium.

Look for

• The front of big squared blocks of Sarno limestone on Via Consolare, among the oldest house fronts in Pompeii

Did you know? Long dated to the 4th or 3rd century BC, it was redated to about 200 BC after a coin of 214 to 212 BC turned up beneath it.

From outside: From Via Consolare you can still see its front of big squared limestone blocks, one of the oldest in the city.

Large Palaestra Palestra Grande

Must-see Open all year Casts of the victims. Beside the Amphitheatre, at the east end of the city. Address II.7.1. About 30 minutes.

A vast Roman sports ground with a swimming pool, now home to Pompeii's exhibition of victims' casts.

Built under Augustus, the Large Palaestra is a huge square framed by porticoes on three sides, with a swimming pool in the middle. The young men of the city trained here, beside double rows of plane trees that have been replanted where the cavities of the ancient roots were found. Since March 2026 its porticoes have held a permanent exhibition on the eruption, with 22 plaster casts of victims and remarkably well-preserved plant and animal remains. The casts are shown in a screened section, so visitors can choose whether to go in.

Look for

• A column of about 4 metres in the south portico, showing the ash and pumice layers that buried the town
• The screened section in the north portico with 22 casts of victims; a notice lets you choose to go in

Did you know? In 2024 DNA from Pompeii's casts showed that an adult wearing a gold bracelet and holding a child, long seen as a mother, was an unrelated man.

Lupanar (brothel) Lupanare

Must-see Open all year The brothel. Two blocks east of the Forum, where Vicolo del Lupanare meets Vicolo del Balcone Pensile. Address VII.12.18. About 10 minutes.

The only building in Pompeii clearly built as a brothel: five tiny rooms with stone beds downstairs.

The Lupanar is the only building in Pompeii that was clearly built as a brothel. Five small rooms with masonry beds lie on the ground floor, with erotic paintings above their doors. Over a hundred graffiti left by clients and workers cover the walls. It stands at a crossroads in the middle of the city, between the Forum and the Stabian Baths.

Look for

• The small erotic paintings in the frieze above the doorways along the corridor
• The stone beds, each with a built-in stone pillow, in the tiny rooms

Did you know? A visit cost two to eight asses, when a glass of wine cost one; most of the women were enslaved Greeks and easterners.

Stabian Baths Terme Stabiane

Must-see Men's section open Oldest baths. At the crossroads of Via dell'Abbondanza and Via Stabiana. Address VII.1.8. About 20 minutes.

Pompeii's oldest public baths, with separate sections for men and women; only the men had a cold pool.

Built around 125 BC, the Stabian Baths were the oldest and largest public baths of Pompeii. Men and women had separate sections with changing, warm and hot rooms; only the men had a cold room. The courtyard served as an exercise ground with a pool. Stucco reliefs survive on the vaults. Digs in 2021 and 2023 found two previously unknown round sweat rooms under the courtyard, now covered again.

Look for

• The stucco ceiling next to the men's changing room, with cupids, rosettes and trophies in relief
• The small round cold pool with arched niches around it, also next to the men's changing room

Did you know? A sundial on the roof kept the baths to time; its Oscan inscription says it was paid for out of fines.

Bakery of Modestus Panificio di Modestus

Closed at the moment On Via degli Augustali, east of the Forum. Address VII.1.36.

A bakery where 81 loaves of bread were found in the oven.

The bakery has mills of lava stone, which donkeys turned, and a large oven. When it was excavated in 1862, 81 carbonised loaves of bread were found inside the oven, where they had been left on the day of the eruption.

Look for

• The small plaques with a phallus, a Roman charm against the evil eye, on both pillars of the doorway

Did you know? The oven was found shut with an iron bar across it, the 81 carbonised loaves still inside.

From outside: From Via degli Augustali you can see the doorway, its good-luck plaques and patches of painted plaster on the front.

Bakery of Popidius Priscus Panificio di Popidio Prisco

Open all year On Vicolo Storto, two blocks east of the Forum. Address VII.2.22. About 10 minutes.

Slaves or animals turned these hourglass-shaped lava mills, and the flour went straight to the oven.

This bakery on Vicolo Storto turned grain into bread in one place. The grain was poured into the hourglass-shaped top stone of each lava mill, which slaves or animals turned around a cone-shaped base. The loaves were baked in the large oven at the centre of the building. There is no shop counter, so the bread was probably made to order, sold wholesale or sold by street sellers.

Look for

• Hourglass-shaped lava mills: each top stone turned on a cone-shaped base to grind the grain
• The large brick oven with its arched mouth, where the loaves were baked

Did you know? Five mills stand here, but a 2014 French study found only four in their original places; the fifth was reassembled in recent decades.

Central Baths Terme centrali di Pompei

Open all year At the crossroads of Via Stabiana and Via di Nola. About 15 minutes.

Brand-new public baths with large windows, still unfinished when Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD.

After the earthquake of 62 AD the city began large new baths with big windows and a modern layout. They were not finished when Vesuvius erupted. Their size shows a city rebuilding with confidence in its last years.

Look for

• Large windows in the warm and hot rooms, facing the exercise yard to let in light
• Column pieces lying in the exercise yard, never put up before the eruption

Did you know? Unlike Pompeii's older baths, these had no separate women's section, so men and women probably bathed at different times.

Fullery of Stephanus Fullonica di Stephanus

Open all year On the south side of Via dell'Abbondanza, east of Via Stabiana. Address I.6.7. About 15 minutes.

A Roman laundry, tubs still in place, where a victim was found by the door with a hoard of coins.

A house on the Via dell'Abbondanza was turned into a fullery, where cloth was washed and finished. The basins and the tubs in which workers trod the cloth are still there. Near the entrance the excavators found a skeleton with a large sum of money.

Look for

• A big washing tub in the middle of the atrium, where the rain basin used to be
• Three big rinsing tanks at the back, with the small vats where workers trod the cloth beside them

Did you know? The washing liquid included human and animal urine, collected in pots set out along the streets.

Amphitheatre Anfiteatro romano di Pompei

Must-see Seen from the south entrance Gladiators' arena. In the far east corner of the city, near the Piazza Anfiteatro entrance. Address II.6.1.

One of the oldest stone amphitheatres of the Roman world, where a fan riot got games banned for ten years.

Built around 70 BC, the amphitheatre held about 20,000 spectators for gladiator games. In 59 AD a riot broke out here between Pompeians and visitors from Nuceria, and the Roman senate banned games in Pompeii for ten years; a fresco of the fight is in Naples. In 1971 Pink Floyd filmed a concert here, with no audience.

Look for

• The double staircases on the outer west wall, which led spectators up to the top rows
• The oval arena and banks of stone seats, seen from the southern entrance

Did you know? In its builders' day it was called 'spectacula', the shows: the word amphitheatre was not yet in use.

From outside: For now you can only look in from the southern entrance; from the square outside you can see the double staircases.

Large Theatre Teatro Grande

Must-see Open all year 5,000 seats. Below the Triangular Forum, in the theatre quarter in the south of the city. Address VIII.7.20. About 15 minutes.

A theatre for about 5,000 people, built over 2,000 years ago and still used for performances in summer.

Built in the 2nd century BC and enlarged under Augustus by the Holconius family, the theatre held about 5,000 spectators. Like a Greek theatre, its seats rest on the slope of the hill. Awnings could be stretched over the audience against the sun. It is still used for performances in summer.

Look for

• The two boxes over the side entrances, seats of honour added by the Holconius family
• A white marble step carved with the name of Marcus Holconius Rufus; its bronze letters are gone

Did you know? An inscription names the architect of its Augustan rebuilding, Marcus Artorius Primus, a former slave. Very few such inscriptions are known.

Small Theatre (Odeon) Teatro Piccolo

Seen from outside Beside the Large Theatre, on Via Stabiana. Address VIII.7.17.

Kneeling stone figures of Atlas frame the seats of this small roofed theatre for music and mime.

Built soon after 80 BC, when Pompeii became a Roman colony, the Odeon had a roof, which gave it good sound for music, poetry and mime. Kneeling figures of Atlas frame the ends of the seats. Pompeii had two stone theatres before Rome built its first.

Look for

• The Latin plaque above the Via Stabiana doorway, naming the two men who built the roofed theatre

Did you know? The same two magistrates who built it, Quinctius Valgus and Porcius, also paid for the Amphitheatre a few years later.

From outside: Closed inside, but from Via Stabiana you can see its entrance and the Latin plaque naming its two builders.

Triangular Forum Foro Triangolare

Open all year At the south edge of the city, above the theatres, on Via dei Teatri. Address VIII.7.30. About 10 minutes.

One of Pompeii's oldest temples, built in the 6th century BC on a lava spur above the bay.

On a spur of lava above the old coastline stood a Doric temple of the 6th century BC, dedicated to Athena and Hercules, one of the oldest buildings in Pompeii. Later the area was framed by porticoes, which gave the square its triangular shape. From here you walk down to the theatres.

Look for

• The low platform of the 6th-century BC Doric temple, with old altars lined up in front of its steps
• A small round shrine with a few columns left, built over a deep well

Did you know? A small double enclosure in front of the temple steps has been read as the tomb of Hercules, the legendary founder of the city.

Gladiators' barracks (Quadriporticus) Quadriportico dei Teatri

Open all year The large colonnaded square behind the stage of the Large Theatre. Address VIII.7.16. About 10 minutes.

Theatre-goers once strolled here between acts; after 62 AD gladiators lived around the courtyard.

The Quadriporticus was first a foyer where theatre-goers walked between acts. After the earthquake of 62 AD it was turned into barracks for gladiators, with rooms on two floors around the courtyard. Helmets and armour of gladiators were found here; they are now in Naples.

Look for

• Rows of grey tuff Doric columns around the vast courtyard, 74 in all
• Small stone staircases that once led up to rooms on the upper floor

Did you know? Stocks for prisoners were found in a room on the west side, but the four people found there were not locked in them.

Temple of Isis Tempio d'Iside

Closed at the moment On Via del Tempio d'Iside, just north of the theatres. Address VIII.7.28.

A temple of the Egyptian goddess Isis, rebuilt after 62 AD in the name of a six-year-old boy.

After the earthquake of 62 AD the temple was rebuilt in the name of Numerius Popidius Celsinus, a boy of six, whose father, a former slave, paid for it so that his son could join the city council. One of the first great finds of the excavations, it drew artists and travellers, among them the young Mozart. Its paintings and statues are now in Naples.

Look for

• A copy of the inscription above the street door, naming the six-year-old who rebuilt the temple

Did you know? An Egyptian stone of the 330s BC, now in Naples, stood at the entrance. On it a priest tells how a god warned him in a dream, so he fled the battle against Alexander.

From outside: Closed, but on Via del Tempio d'Iside you can see the gated entrance and, above it, a copy of the rebuilding inscription.

Garden of the Fugitives Orto dei Fuggiaschi

Must-see Open all year 13 casts. In the south-east of the city, on Vicolo dei Fuggiaschi, near Porta Nocera. Address I.21.6. About 10 minutes.

A vineyard where adults and children died fleeing the eruption; thirteen of their casts lie here.

This plot inside the walls was a vineyard. More than a dozen people, adults and children, were killed here by the eruption's hot ash cloud as they tried to flee towards Porta Nocera. Their casts were made in 1961, and thirteen of them now lie together in a glass case at the back of the garden.

Look for

• The glass shelter by the back wall, where the casts of thirteen adults and children lie in a row

Did you know? In 2026 scans of a small case carried by one man showed a stone palette for medicines and tiny bronze tools. He may have been a doctor.

Necropolis of Porta Nocera Necropoli di Porta Nocera

Open all year Outside Porta Nocera, along the road below the south walls. About 20 minutes.

A street of tombs outside the walls, where one freed slave still warns passers-by about a false friend.

Outside Porta Nocera the road is lined with tombs from the 1st century BC and the 1st century AD, among them those of former slaves and local magistrates. Inscriptions and portrait reliefs tell who was buried here.

Look for

• A brick tomb with three headless statues: the freed slave Phileros, his patroness and his former friend
• The boundary stone of Vespasian's envoy, Titus Suedius Clemens, at the road junction south of the gate

Did you know? Excavators found that Phileros also cancelled the grave he had prepared for that friend, filling it in and paving it over.

Street of Tombs Necropoli di Porta Ercolano

Open all year Outside the Herculaneum Gate, along the old road to Herculaneum. About 20 minutes.

A road lined with the tombs of leading families, with curved stone benches where passers-by could sit.

Romans buried their dead outside the city walls, along the roads. On the Via dei Sepolcri you walk past monuments of local notables, round tombs and semicircular stone benches where people could sit. The road leads on to the Villa of Diomedes and the Villa of the Mysteries.

Look for

• The curved stone bench of the priestess Mamia, with her name and title carved along it in Latin
• The ship carved on one side of the marble tomb of Naevoleia Tyche, further down the road

Did you know? The tomb with the ship was built by Naevoleia Tyche, a freed slave, for herself, Munatius Faustus and their own freed slaves.

Villa of the Mysteries Villa dei Misteri

Must-see Pompei+ ticket The red frieze. Outside the walls, about 400 m beyond the Herculaneum Gate. About 45 minutes.

In one room of this villa outside the walls, life-size figures on deep red act out a secret ritual.

The villa lies outside the Herculaneum Gate, about a ten-minute walk from the city. Its fame comes from one room, painted in the 1st century BC with life-size figures on a deep red background. The scenes are usually read as a woman being initiated into the mysteries of Dionysus. Excavated from 1909 onwards, the villa also had its own wine press.

Look for

• Dionysus lounging in the lap of Ariadne, on the central wall of the Room of the Mysteries
• The rebuilt wooden wine press, its long beam ending in a carved ram's head

Did you know? For decades the red walls looked darker than the painter made them: early restorers coated the frieze in wax and petroleum, removed by laser in 2013 to 2015.

Villa of Diomedes Villa di Diomede

Pompei+ ticket On the Street of Tombs, about 250 m outside the Herculaneum Gate. About 30 minutes.

A large villa outside the walls, where people sheltered in the cellars.

Excavated between 1771 and 1774, the villa is named after Marcus Arrius Diomedes, whose tomb lies opposite, though it is not certain the villa was his. It has terraces and a large garden surrounded by porticoes. In its cellars the excavators found the remains of a group of people who had taken shelter there.

Look for

• The colonnaded courtyard you step into straight from the front door
• The large garden with its pool and the columns of the pergola that shaded summer dinners

Did you know? Nineteenth-century visitors scratched their names on its walls, among them the Count of Cavour, later Italy's first prime minister.

Porta Marina (sea gate) Porta Marina

Open all year The west gate, where Via Marina climbs into the city. About 5 minutes.

The sea gate and one of today's main entrances, with one passage for people and one for animals.

Porta Marina led from the city down towards the sea and the harbour. It has two vaulted passages: a narrow one for people on foot and a wider, steep one for pack animals. Today it is one of the main entrances to the excavations.

Look for

• The two passages as you walk up: on the left a narrow one with steps for people, on the right a wide ramp for animals
• The empty niche in the wall to the right of the gate, where a clay statue of Minerva was found in 1861

Did you know? Mark Twain came in through this gate in 1867, past a broken statue of Minerva still keeping tireless watch, as he put it.

Herculaneum Gate Porta di Ercolano

Open all year The north-west gate, at the end of Via Consolare. About 5 minutes.

The grand three-arched gate where the road to Herculaneum and Naples left the city.

The gate has three passages: a central one for carts and two narrower ones for people on foot. Outside it begins the Street of Tombs, lined with the funeral monuments of leading families.

Look for

• The three arches: a wide one in the middle for carts, its vault partly gone, and a narrow one each side for walkers
• Just outside the gate, the stretch of wall in big tuff blocks, still scarred by stone shot from Sulla's siege

Did you know? During Sulla's siege, Oscan signs painted on house walls guided defenders to their posts, one of them to a Tower 12 near this gate.