Is this a worth while stop? It's not in the RS books, but looking on-line it looked interesting. You have to book ahead to tour with an archeologist. Feed-back?
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
The mandatory tour with an expert makes this fascinating place even more so because you have an expert explaining it: As you probably have already read on the website, the Golden House is the residence/palace built by Nero after the fire. What I've read is that it was razed after Nero committed suicide, the Colosseum was erected on the site of the lake Nero had built on the grounds, and the Domus wasn't rediscovered until the Renaissance; that Raphael and some of his fellow artists became enthusiastic about the paintings they found there in the grotto-like rooms: geometric designs, foliated scrolls, and decorations with faces and animals, which are called grotesques. I also read that the memorable Laocoon statue, on display in the Vatican, is thought to have been uncovered, in the early 1500s, on the site of the Domus.
Posted by
The Hague, NL (AMS)
2207 posts
Nero's palace has been closed for an extended period of time... and just recently "re-opened" to the public. Now you can only see 1/2 of the huge palace and you must wear hard hats and go in groups of no more than 20 - with a trained archeologist!
You'll go through tunnels, on some scaffolding - it's not your normal "palace" tour! but it's impressive.
Cultural website selling tickets:
http://www.pierreci.it/do/show/list/20
--- From their website ----
Opening hours from Tuesday to Friday from 10 am to 4 pm. Closed holidays
ENTRANCE only with guided tour (booking required)
- BOOKING/EXTERNAL ADVANCE SALE by phone at +39.06.39967700 (Mon-Sat 9 am-1:30 pm/2:30 pm-5 pm); at Rome Tourist Information Office's Visitor Center in Via Parigi 5 (Mon-Sat 9am-7pm); booking on line: buy
Ciao,
Ron