Oplontis

Oplontis
Location Torre Annunziata, Province of Naples, Campania, Italy
Site notes
Management Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei
Website Oplontis (Italian)
Official name Archaeological Areas of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Torre Annunziata
Type Cultural
Criteria iii, iv, v
Designated 1997 (21st session)
Reference no. 829
Region Europe and North America
Oplontis and other cities affected by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. The black cloud represents the general distribution of ash and cinder. Modern coast lines are shown.

Oplontis was a town near Pompeii, in the Roman Empire. On August 24, AD 79, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried it under a deep layer of ash. It is today the location of the Villa Poppaea, the villa possibly associated with the second wife of Emperor Nero,[1] was excavated in the mid-20th century, wrapping up in 1984,[2] and is currently open to the public.

A second villa, the Villa of L. Crassius Tertius, was discovered in 1974, 300 metres east of the Villa of Poppaea,[3] during the construction of a school. It was named following the finding of a bronze seal bearing Crassius' name.

The name "Oplontis" most likely refers to the baths in the area of Oncino, but today the name commonly covers the group of villas in the middle of the modern town of Torre Annunziata, also known as Torre Nunziata in the local Neapolitan dialect.

A large number of artifacts from Oplontis are preserved in the Naples National Archaeological Museum.

See also

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oplontis.

References

  1. "The Oplontis project". The University of Texas at Austin, Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  2. "Oplontis". archive.fieldmuseum.org. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
  3. "Villa B". The University of Texas at Austin, Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei. Retrieved 20 April 2012.


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