Somma Vesuviana

Somma Vesuviana hosts the remains of a monumental Roman villa on the northern flank of Vesuvius, buried by a volcanic eruption in AD 472. Discovered in the 1930s, the site was systematically excavated from 2002 by the University of Tokyo, revealing decorated rooms with Dionysiac motifs, frescoes of Nereids and Tritons, and a functioning wine cellar with earthenware jars. Ancient sources suggest Emperor Augustus died at a villa in this area in 14 AD, and recent excavations have uncovered possible traces of an Augustan-era structure beneath the 2nd-century AD villa.