The Excavation History of via dell’Abbondanza - 1748 to 1799
Early excavations in Pompeii were carried out primarily to locate artwork and antiquities that were used to decorate the new summer palace that had been built at Portici by Charles of Bourbon, King of Naples and Sicily. Most of the explorations in Pompeii during the last half of the eighteenth century were in the vicinity of the Herculaneum Gate in the north of the city and around the theaters in the south. However, one of the first properties unearthed in Pompeii, the Praedia of Julia Felix, was in the east of the city, adjacent to a buried street that is now known as via dell’Abbondanza.
The Directors of the Pompeii excavations during this period were[1]:
- 1745 to 1780 - Roque Joachim de Alcubierre, military engineer, site manager and Director of Archeological Works
- 1750 to 1760 - Karl Weber, on-site supervisor under de Alcubierre
- 1764 to 1780 - Francesco la Vega, on-site supervisor under de Alcubierre
- 1780 to 1804 - Francesco la Vega, Director of Archeological Works

Source: Original drawing (Soprintendenza Archeologica di Napoli ADS 71)
Location: Archives of the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Napoli
Copyright: Permission to display this image of the original document has been granted by the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali – Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei. This image may NOT be copied or reproduced in any manner.
The Praedia of Julia Felix was the first structure to be excavated on via dell’Abbondanza. The nearby amphitheater had been explored in 1748. Several years later a farmer discovered a marble column to the north of the arena and the excavations were reopened in 1755. The work continued until 1757 under the supervision of Swiss military engineer Karl Weber and encompassed a complete city block (Regio II, Insula 4). The objective of the project was to recover artifacts and art for the King of Naples and Sicily. Weber submitted weekly reports that consisted primarily of inventories of the objects that had been found. After the property was reburied at the completion of the work, Weber created several plans of the site. This drawing is an early draft showing the layout of the structures. The rooms are numbered to show the location of the discoveries cited in the written inventory surrounding the floor plan.[2]
By: Karl Weber (1712-1764)
Source: Original drawing (Soprintendenza Archeologica di Napoli ADS 72)
Location: Archives of the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Napoli
Copyright: Permission to display this image of the original document has been granted by the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali – Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei. This image may NOT be copied or reproduced in any manner.
1757 - Plan of the Praedia of Julia Felix (Regio II, Insula 4)
By: Karl Weber (1712-1764)
Source: Original drawing (Soprintendenza Archeologica di Napoli ADS 73)
Location: Archives of the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Napoli
Copyright: Permission to display this image of the original document has been granted by the Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali – Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei. This image may NOT be copied or reproduced in any manner.
1757 - Plan of the Praedia of Julia Felix (Regio II, Insula 4) reproduced in 1860
By: Karl Weber (1712 – 1764) reproduced by Giuseppe Fiorelli (1823 - 1896)
Source: Vol. I, Tab. I of Pompeianarvm antiqvitatvm historia qvam ex cod. mss. et a schedis divrnisqve R. Alcvbierre by Giuseppe Fiorelli, published in 1860.
Publication Date: 1862
Location: Library of the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei
Copyright: Expired
Giuseppe Fiorelli compiled and transcribed the handwritten official Pompeii excavation reports that had been recorded between 1748 and 1860 into a three-volume printed publication, Pompeianarum Antiquitatum Historia (PAH). Plate I in Volume I shows a copy of one of Weber’s 1757 plans of the Praedia of Julia Felix. North is at the left of the page. The unnamed street on the plan is now known as via dell’Abbondanza. Weber’s written reports and inventories are also included in the book in Addenda II, pages 95-103.
This image was recorded from the PAH volumes in the library of the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei. Unfortunately, the original plate was missing from the book, and had been replaced with a photocopy.
[1] Soprintendenza Archaeologica di Pompei, History of the Excavations, Pompei, 2008, http://www.pompeiisites.org/
[2] Excellent discussions of this period of Pompeian history can be found in:
Parslow, Christopher. “Documents illustrating the excavations of the Praedia of Julia Felix in Pompeii.” Rivista di Studi Pompeiani. Vol. II, 1988, pp. 37-48.
Parslow, Christopher. Rediscovering Antiquity, Karl Weber and the Excavation of Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Stabiae. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.