Pompeii. City walls. Herculaneum Gate to Marina
Gate.
Wall on west side of Pompeii. May 2010.
Looking east towards VII.16.22, built above City Walls. Photo courtesy of
Ivo van der Graaff.
Wall on west side of Pompeii. May 2010.
Looking east towards VII.16.22, built above City Walls. Photo courtesy of
Ivo van der Graaff.
VII.16.17-22 Pompeii. May 2006. Garden looking towards rear of House of
Fabius Rufus, built out over the city walls.
According to Jashemski, the gardens at the rear of the house were reached
from the house by stairways cut in the city wall.
See Jashemski, W. F., 1993. The
Gardens of Pompeii, Volume II: Appendices. New York: Caratzas. (p.202-4, A
and D)
Vicolo dei Soprastanti, Pompeii. May 2011.
Looking west from junction with Vicolo del Farmacista, on right. Photo
courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Vicolo dei Soprastanti, Pompeii. May 2011. Looking
west Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Vicolo dei Soprastanti, Pompeii. June 2012. Looking
east. Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
According to Van der Graaff –
“Given the strategic importance of the battlements, perhaps it is not
without coincidence that the only truly intact part of the wall top that
survives is primarily ornamental. It stretches along the edge of a cliff
bordering the street known as the vicolo dei Soprastanti, where it functioned
to emphasize the city’s edge. The section is composed of six travertine Doric
columns engaged in an opus incertum curtain…………..
With the exception of a small triangular window designed as a viewing
port or firing slit, the wall has no real military purpose. (see Fig. 3.12).
See Van der Graaff, I. (2018). The Fortifications of Pompeii and
Ancient Italy. Routledge, (p.69-70).
Vicolo dei
Soprastanti, Pompeii. June 2012. Looking
east along 6 Doric columns on north side. Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Vicolo dei Soprastanti, Pompeii. May 2011. West end of
the six travertine Doric columns. Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Vicolo dei
Soprastanti, Pompeii. June 2012.
Detail of
column at west end of the six travertine Doric columns. Photo courtesy of Ivo
van der Graaff.
Vicolo dei Soprastanti, Pompeii. June 2012.
Detail of 2nd column at west end of the six travertine Doric
columns. Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Vicolo dei
Soprastanti, Pompeii. June 2012.
Detail of 3rdd
column at west end of the six travertine Doric columns. Photo courtesy of Ivo
van der Graaff.
Vicolo dei Soprastanti, Pompeii. June 2012.
Detail of 4th column of the six travertine Doric columns.
Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Vicolo dei Soprastanti, Pompeii. June 2012.
Detail of 5th column of the six travertine Doric columns. Photo courtesy
of Ivo van der Graaff.
Vicolo dei Soprastanti, Pompeii. June 2012.
Detail of 6th column of the six travertine Doric columns, the most
easterly. Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Vicolo dei Soprastanti, Pompeii. May 2011.
Looking east along north side, with triangular viewing place. Photo
courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Vicolo dei Soprastanti, Pompeii. May 2011.
Triangular peephole between Doric columns, set into north wall. Photo
courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Vicolo dei Soprastanti, Pompeii. May 2011. Detail of
triangular peephole. Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Vicolo dei Soprastanti, Pompeii. May 2011. Drain
beneath the colonnade on north side of roadway. Photo courtesy of Ivo van der
Graaff.
According to Van der Graaff –
“Only a single example exists of a drain passing through the curtain wall
other than at the gates. It opened beneath the ornamental engaged colonnade that
served to mark the edge of the fortifications and the natural cliff edge along
the vicolo dei Soprastanti. The drain was slightly less in the public eye that
the gates. Yet engineers formalized the water falling from the city into a
cascade draining from the streets into a natural channel passing through the
garden of the House of Maius Castricius (VII.16.17). In the course of the first
century BCE, workers contained the channel into a series of shallow open-air
clearing tanks designed to store and filter the water for reuse. The
fortification wall above the formalized channel preserves the triangular
peephole in the wall that offered a good view of the water works below. From
here, viewers could observe the controlled outflow of water from the city.”
See Van der Graaff, I. (2018). The Fortifications of Pompeii and
Ancient Italy. Routledge, (p.105 & Note 118 and 119).
Vicolo dei
Soprastanti, Pompeii. June 2012.
Detail of
drain in roadway. Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Vicolo dei Soprastanti, Pompeii. June 2012. Looking
north through drain. Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Vicolo dei Soprastanti, Pompeii. June 2012. West
interior side of drain. Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Vicolo dei Soprastanti, Pompeii. June 2012. East
interior side of drain. Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Walls on west side of Pompeii. May 2010. Looking south towards rear lower
level of VII.16.16. Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Walls on west side of Pompeii. May 2010.
Looking south towards City Wall at rear of VII.16.16. Photo courtesy of
Ivo van der Graaff.
Walls on west side of Pompeii. May 2010. Detail. Photo courtesy of Ivo
van der Graaff.
Walls on west side of Pompeii. May 2010.
Looking south-east towards City Wall at rear of VII.16.15/14/13, in
centre, with Marine Gate, on right. Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Walls on west side of Pompeii. May 2010. Looking east towards City Walls
below VII.16.16/15. Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Walls on west side of Pompeii. May 2010. Detail of wall at rear of
VII.16.16. Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Walls on west side of VII.16.16, Pompeii. May 2011. Detail of City Wall. Photo
courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Walls on west side of VII.16.16, Pompeii. May 2011. Detail of City Wall. Photo
courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Walls on west side of VII.16.16, Pompeii. May 2011. Detail of City Wall. Photo
courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Unnumbered area at rear of VII.16.16 and VII.16.15. December 2006.
This shows the house was built over the city walls which were no longer
needed.
This part of Pompeii was the location of several houses of wealthy
people.
Like the House of Umbricius Scaurus, a number of the houses here had
several floor levels and views of the sea.
Walls on west side of Pompeii. May 2010. Detail. Photo courtesy of Ivo
van der Graaff.
Walls on west side of Pompeii. May 2010.
Looking south along City Walls, with VII.16.a Suburban Baths, lower
right, Marine Gate and Antiquarium, upper right.
Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Walls on west side of Pompeii. May 2010.
Looking east to City Walls, below VII.16.15, and above roof of Suburban
Baths. Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Walls on west side of Pompeii, continuation from above photo. May 2010.
Detail of City Walls on north side of Marine Gate. Photo courtesy of Ivo
van der Graaff.
Walls on west side of Pompeii. May 2010.
Looking south-east towards City Walls (across centre), with rooms 44/45
of VI.16.13 (in centre) and Marine Gate, left of tree.
Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.
Walls on west side of Pompeii. May 2011.
Looking south-east towards Marine Gate, in centre, with City Walls, on
left and right, of it. Photo courtesy of Ivo van der Graaff.