Oplontis-Anyone heard of it?

I wouldn't call Oplontis an alternative to Pompei because it's just one villa, albeit a sprawling one. But it is a good complement, little visited, and it combines well with the excavations of Castellamare di Stabia. It is a 20 min walk from the Torre Annuziata train station (parking is very limited).

We have visited Oplontis a number of times during our two-week stays in Naples. It is a single large dwelling proposed to belong to the family of Lollia Poppaea Sabina, Nero's ill-fated second wife. The wall paintings are spectacular and the layout gives a good idea of residences of the wealthy in imperial times. The site has never been crowded when we have visited. In fact, many times we were the only ones there. It is also easily covered in several hours. The site is easily accessed from the Circumvesuviana "Torre Annunciata" stop; you just walk down the street from the train station.

There was a small touring museum show of Oplontis objects a few years ago. It is an easy walk from the appropriate Circumvesuviana stop. We enjoyed it because it is so different than Pompeii and Herc. But it is so much smaller , I would put it behind the Naples museum in priority. (Do not miss the Farnese Marbles if you go to the Museum.) I wonder if Oplontis is a good choice for someone with a mild disability who can manage slow, wide stairs, but can't face the stone seams and chariot ruts of the vast Pompeii site? It also tends to be un-crowded.

Conceptually (not academically) it is an "authentic" version of the outdoor Getty Villa. The Getty Villa seems very tarted-up once you've been to some of these sites outside Naples.

When we went, the (not Arte card) normal retail "5-site" ticket option only allowed one visit to each site, within a limited number of days. Remember how hot and exposed these places are. Oplontis has more shade and cover than average. But little retail was open along the street from the train, the day we went. This ticket also does NOT permit same-day re-entry. That makes lunch an important part of your schedule. The tourist restaurant (glorified cafeteria) inside Pompeii (and only at Pompeii ... ) was decent, above what I expected. But there was a line for the air-conditioned toilets upstairs.

Allan, I'd heard of it but have yet to have had the time to do it! It's one of a list of Pompeii-related archeological sites listed on the official website. They're also currently offering free transport (4th of December to 17th of January, and from the 1st of April to 4th of July, 2022) 6 days a week from Pompeii scavi's Piazza Esedra entrance to/between most of them. Must have the applicable entry pass; details here:

http://pompeiisites.org/en/visiting-info/pompeii-arte-bus-timetables-and-methods/

In addition to the info in the N.G. link you've so thoughtfully provided, find more info about Oplontis + the other sites in the Pompeii park system under the "The Sites" dropdown at the top of the page.

Editing to add: even without having done it, just based on the information I wouldn't consider it an alternate to Pompeii. Still, if one had the time to spend in the region + a keen interest in Roman-era archeology, I'd think it would be worthwhile to include it along with a look at some of the others listed. Personally, I'd probably do this before the climb up Vesuvius? Seeing it looming menacingly OVER the scavi (it's definitely not extinct) made a bigger impression than it would have had we been standing ON it. But that's just us. :O).

A bit of trivia for anyone who doesn't already know but Pompeii and Herculaneum had suffered severe damage from the AD 62 earthquake mentioned in the article as well. That damage had only been partially repaired by the time of the AD 79 volcanic event, the quake likely having been a precursory warning.

I wouldn't call it an "alternative", but we will be taking it in during our April 2022 trip.

We are staying at a hotel in Pompei for four nights. We have arranged for private guided tours of Pompeii, with the Villa of the Mysteries on Day 1, followed by Herculaneum, Oplontis and Stabiae on Day 2. On Day 3, we will go back to visit our favorite sites on our own. For us the 365 Campania Arte Card is worth it. The card will also cover Paestum and the Archeology Museum in Naples. It also allows for 2 visits to each site.

The free online Roman Architecture course offered by Yale is what inspired me to include so many "Vesuvius" sites.

https://oyc.yale.edu/history-of-art/hsar-252

Allan, have you already watched these videos: https://www.pompei.it/scavi/oplontis.htm

the quake likely having been a precursory warning.

Some things never change. Given the high numbers of Neapolitans who have built their houses on the slopes of an active Vulcano and literally inside the lava channels... it must be something in the mozzarella!

a few years ago I went looking for it by car. Never found it. Oh well... maybe it is better signed now.

Thanks everyone for all the links. I've been dreaming about Amalfi for 15 years after reading an article in National Geographic Traveler about week-long kayak trips along the Amalfi Coast. Unfortunately, my wife gave a great big NO to that idea, saying that if she was going to be on a boat during a vacation, someone else better be paddling. Around the same time I'd also read the Novel 'Pompeii' by Robert Harris and the area immediately went on my must-see list. I'd better get planning, I've only got 18 months to figure this trip out.

You know there is a small Roman villa buried under a Church in Positano? I can't find a link now, but It's open to visitors.

... it must be something in the mozzarella!

🤣 Dario!!!

But I'm with you!! It's only been 77 years or so since the last eruption, with associated fatalities, and the Vesuvius Observatory keeps a nervous eye on the thing. I read that all that rich, volcanic soil created a prime environment for agriculture, thus the vineyards and small farms on or near the slopes, and urban sprawl accounts for some of the rest of the population who live in the cone's shadow. But given its violent past and current status as an active, very dangerous volcano, it does make you wonder why anyone would willingly choose live so close to it? There evidently is an evacuation plan, and the Powers That Be have no intention of ignoring any ominous rumblings but still..... 😳

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesuvius_red_zone

Dario, I assume this is the one? https://www.palazzomurat.it/2018/09/14/roman-villa-positano/

Your Google is better than mine, that's it.

There evidently is an evacuation plan,

I wouldn't put my money on it

Go visit Oplontis if you feel it is worth it, but my advice would be to go to Pompeii and then go to the Villa of the Mysteries (Villa dei Misteri) instead of Oplontis.

The advantage is the cost of it is included in your Pompeii ticket, and it's walkable to get to it as it is next to or actually technically part of Pompeii. To get to it you just walk out the northwest corner of Pompeii, passing through Porta Ercolano takes you to a suburban district along the Villa delle Tombe, Street of Tombs, which is lined with funeral monuments, similar to walking on the Via Appia (Appian Way) outside Rome and takes you past the Necropoli di Porta Ercolano.

The Villa of the Mysteries is a restored, 90-room villa is one of the most complete residential structures in Pompeii. It belonged to one of the most powerful familes in Pompeii and dates back to the 2nd century BC.

It is named for the triclinium (dining hall) which is painted with an extraordinary cycle of paintings. The scenes over three walls seems to depict the initiation into the cult of Dionysian and features the gods Dionysus and Aphrodite. The paintings are consider to be some of the finest surviving ancient wall paintings of Pompeii.

An additional bonus going to see this villa is you will walk past Villa of Diomedes, which has an extensive garden enclosed by a long portico. In an underground passage they found the bodies of 18 women and children. Near the garden door was the body of a man with a key in his hand and a slave beside him carrying money and valuables.

Few people know about the villa of mysteries so you get a nice stroll without the crowds.

Mike, I'll second your advice for the Villa of the Mysteries. We enjoyed that walk very much.

Dario, there's likely reason for a healthy bit of skepticism regarding an evacuation plan, eh? It would only work as well as many, many thousands of humans being willing to follow instructions. It also doesn't appear to have been tested, although I don't know how that would even be possible!

To be fair with Neapolitans they made some simulations before 2008 using thousands of volunteers from the Civil Defence. It was immediately clear that no simulation could stand the comparison with an evacuation of hundreds of thousands.

Note that no one can be certain that any single Villa is open to the public on a particular future date. Italy doesn't work that way.

Note that no one can be certain that any single Villa is open to the
public on a particular future date. Italy doesn't work that way.

That reminds me of the planning stages of my first European trip in 2014. We had booked a cruise and I was arranging a tour outside of what the cruise ship offered for one of the Italian ports. I'd found the perfect itinerary offered by two different companies, but one was a lot pricier than the other. The more expensive of the two clearly listed what was included. I emailed the cheaper option and questioned if this, this and this were included, and the only answer I got was "Everything is included, unless it's not." We went with the pricier option. It was my first experience with how things might be different when I got there.

Ehm, Allan... I am afraid (and a little happy) you may have misunderstood what they meant when the wrote: "Everything is included etc."

You've peaked my interest Dario. What did I misunderstand?

The guy who replied either had a list of "non included" things (and he thought you should have found this list by yourself before wasting his time) or he had had a fight with his wife right before writing to you. In both cases that's a "get lost & enjoy our competitors" reply.

Dario! 🤣
Two of the best laughs I've had all week!

The November 29, 2021 issue of The New Yorker magazine has a report (by Rebecca Mead) on recent visits to Pompeii and to Oplontis. The link below probably has a paywall, but this issue should still be on the periodical shelf at your public library.

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/11/29/pompeii-still-has-buried-secrets

Here is a fair-use (<5%) excerpt, of the Oplontis comments:

*The villa, a sprawling complex of reception rooms and gardens and walkways which dates to the first century B.C., was stunning. First rediscovered ... and in rooms edging a garden they uncovered magnificent frescoes of the birds and plants that appear to have once flourished there. A large, decorated peristyle surrounded another garden: Greek-style living at its finest.

For all the interest offered by the new discoveries of the modes of everyday living at Pompeii—with its snail stews and its Greek theatrics—an empty, unfamiliar, luxurious villa retains an irresistible allure. The grandeur of the Villa Poppaea brought to mind images of an élite class of individuals who thought themselves safely removed from the grubbing hardships endured by the poor, but whose vast wealth provided them with no protection from a titanic natural disaster. At the eastern perimeter of the site, ... a swimming pool more than sixty metres in length. It was filled with weeds and gravel now, but in 79 A.D. it would have been edged by lavishly decorated salons and gardens—and it was easy to imagine Roman aristocrats lounging around a glittering pool, gazing across the sea with the dormant mountain at their backs, confident that the world was—and always would be—theirs to enjoy.*

Tim - Thanks for posting such a great article!

Oh wow, I just saw the sentence about Oplontis being a substitute for Pompeii, that's crazy. That's like saying a single slice of pepperoni is a substitute for a large supreme pizza.