The Villa Regina is an ancient Roman farmhouse or countryside villa (villa rustica), situated in the Italian comune (municipality) of Boscoreale, approx. 1.8 kilometers north-west of the archaeological site of ancient Pompeii and approx. 1.6 kilomters north-east of Oplontis. It was discovered in 1977 CE and subsequently excavated and partially restored.
The Villa Regina, a rustic villa, is one of a number of other Roman villas discovered in the district of Boscoreale that were all buried and preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE, along with Pompeii and Herculaneum. Today the Villa Regina sits at a much lower level than the surrounding area.
When excavated the villa was buried under 8 meters of compressed volcanic ash and material from pyroclastic flow, later topped by material from daily activity through the centuries. Unlike the villas plundered and reburied by treasure hunters, Villa Regina was treated as an archaeological discovery and therefore has been preserved in its complete state.
The villa is a rather comfortable working farm rather than a luxurious estate than most discovered nearby. Nonetheless, an elegant central courtyard is colonnaded on three sides with columns (inspect) of red and white stucco.
Large quantities of pottery and farm implements were found. Plaster casts of the original entrance doors were made from the hollow spaces left. A plaster cast of a pig found here and killed in the catastrophe was Vesuvius' eruption of 79 CE was also made.
It also includes preserved parts of a wine press(inspect). Near the centre of the villa is the wine cellar (inspect) in which 18 dolia, of total capacity 10,000 litres, were buried for storing the must from the adjoining press.
An unusual find was an oil lamp dating from the circa third to fifth century CE showing that the place was tunnelled into in the later Roman era.
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The Madain Project is an online archive of Abrahamic History and Archaeology.
Abrahamic History & Archaeology is the study of history and archaeology with respect to the three Abrahamic Faiths without considering the religious and theological aspects. The goal of Abrahamic History is to understand how and why the religious doctrines and behaviours have evlovled and changed over time. Searching for patterns in the evolution of significant cultural events such as the development of farming, the emergence of cities, or the collapse of major civilizations for clues of why and how these have influenced the three major Abrahamic religions.
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