There were two reasons for me continuing along the Circuvesuviana from Herculaneum round to Castellmare di Stabiae. The first was to go up the funicuar railway for views across the Bay of Naples. The second was to visit the villas at Stabiae.
I did neither. The funicular was closed for the winter and I couldn't find a bus stop for the bus to the villas. So all I did was go down to the seafront, which is rather pretty, and saw this splendid bandstand. A great piece of art nouveau construction.
So I got straight back on the train and went for another lesser known ancient site, the Villa of Poppaea at Oplontis. This was well worth the trip, and I doubt I would have come here at all were it not for my mishap at Castellmare.
One joy was that I pretty much had the place to myself. This is a real backwater. The villa complex is huge - this was luxurious living indeed. A little difficult to get a feel for it as a site as once again it is entirely surrounded by modern urban dwellings, and indeed there is probably a bit more of it still to excavate.
 |
| Not all mosaics were figurative. This lovely floor is a pleasing abstract pattern |
The wall paintings are both very fine and remarkably well preserved really.
 |
| The kitchen |
 |
| Again, an abstract design, this time on corridor walls |
No comments:
Post a Comment