Condition Assessment - Regio III, Insula 4
The photomosaic image below shows the condition of Regio III, Insula 4 at the time it was photographed in 2005. The city block is 33.42 meters in length and the facade was excavated in 1916-1917. There are three entrances: two houses and one shop. The exterior walls of most of the insula were constructed in opus incertum (stone rubble embedded in concrete). The westernmost corner (on left) was built in opus testaceum (fired brick) and the eastern end, including the second story, was built with opus vittatum mixtum (a combination of brick and stone blocks).
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 4 after it was excavated in 1916-1917. 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.]
A significant portion of the excavated facade of the ground floor was found to be reasonably complete. Unusually, part of the second story also survived.
The center of the city block was bombed in 1943, damaging the interior of the House of C. Arrius Crescens.
This charcoal drawing by Alberto Sanarica is a hypothetical reconstruction of Insula III, 5 and part of III, 6. Although the drawing was based upon evidence encountered during the excavations, much of the information is conjecture.
[Permission to display the black and white photograph 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 charcoal drawing 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.]