Condition Assessment - Regio III, Insula 2
The photomosaic image below shows the condition of Regio III, Insula 2 at the time it was photographed in 2005. The city block is 32.63 meters in length and the facade was excavated in 1913-1915. There are three entrances: one house, one shop and a workshop. The exterior walls of the western third of the block (on left) were constructed primarily in opus quadratum (large ashlar blocks). The middle section of the facade was constructed in opus incertum (stone rubble embedded in concrete). The eastern end was also built in opus incertum, with opus vittatum mixtum (a combination of brick and stone blocks) piers.
Click image below to enlarge
This elevation drawing of the city block was created by Alberto Sanarica for Vittorio Spinazzola and shows the condition of Regio III, Insula 2 after it was excavated in 1913-1915. The dark shaded areas of the drawing represent the portions actually excavated, the lighter shaded areas represent restorations and the single lines are hypothetical additions.
[From Pompei alla luce degli scavi nuovi di Via dell'Abbondanza (anni 1910-1923) by Vittorio Spinazzola. Permission to display this image has been granted as a courtesy by the publisher, Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Rome. This image may NOT be copied or reproduced in any manner without the permission of the publisher.]
The photograph above on the left shows the facade of Regio III, insula 2 in 1915 after it was excavated. The exterior ground floor walls were found nearly complete and in very good condition. The 1943 photograph, above in the center, shows the atrium of the House of A. Trebius Valens which was bady damaged by the WW II bombing. The western corner of the block was hit which destroyed most of the front section of the house. It was partially rebuilt after the war. The photo on the right was taken from approximately the same location in 2006.
This watercolor by Alberto Sanarica is a hypothetical reconstruction of the House of A. Trebius Valens on the western end of the block.
The photo on the right shows a major renovation projet that was carried out in the atriumof the House of A. Trebius Valens in 2007 and 2008.
The 1915 excavation photograph on the left above shows the wall paintings on the facade of the House of A. Trebius Valens. As can be seen in the photomosaic image on the right and the elevation drawing above, almost all of the exterior wall paster shown in the photo was destroyed by the bombing.
The eastern end of the city block was further damaged during the earthquake of 1981.
[The black and white image of bomb damage in the House of A. Trebius Valens is from the British School at Rome Digital Collections, Ward-Perkins Collection]
[Permission to display the other three black and white photographs above has been granted by the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali – Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei. These images may NOT be copied or reproduced in any manner.]
[The image of the watercolor above is from Pompei alla luce degli scavi nuovi di Via dell'Abbondanza (anni 1910-1923) by Vittorio Spinazzola. Permission to display this image has been granted as a courtesy by the publisher, Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Rome. This image may NOT be copied or reproduced in any manner without the permission of the publisher.]