Positano

Beneath the Church of Santa Maria Assunta in Positano lies a 1st-century AD Roman villa, buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD after being damaged by the earthquake of 62 AD. First described by Karl Weber in 1758, systematic excavations in 2003-2006 and 2015-2016 revealed the triclinium with mosaic floors and Fourth Pompeian Style frescoes. The site opened as the MAR (Roman Archaeological Museum) on 18 July 2018, allowing visitors to descend 10 metres below the church to explore the preserved villa attributed to Posides, a freedman of Emperor Claudius.