Inside the Ancient City of Pompeii

With its relatively intact roads, homes, and food counters, the ancient city of Pompeii feels both familiar and very far away.

The city, preserved under the ash of Mt. Vesuvius’s explosion nearly 2000 years ago, has been dug up, looted, conserved, and ultimately protected. In 2019, photographer Luigi Spina was commissioned by the Archeological Park of Pompeii to photograph the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

More than two million tourists a year visit the site, but Spina was able to photograph it without the crowds. Training his camera predominantly on buildings once belonging to the upper classes of the ancient city, he captured frescoed walls, intricate mosaic floors, and views of an ancient landscape through open windows.

“For centuries, a thick grey blanket covered the urban fabric of a living city,” he writes in the introduction to the new book, Inside Pompeii. “The shops and the domus lining the street are an invitation to keep exploring the stories of others. Stories that are not so different from our own. Working, living, engaging in community and family life... What has changed? Nothing! This is Pompeii, a glimpse of other people’s lives, through a fissure in time.”

Out now from Getty, Inside Pompeii features Spina’s many photographs accompanied by introductory essays as well as short texts on the various locations and homes, which are briefly excerpted below.

The House of the Cryptoporticus

Windows overlooked an airy garden. Decorations adorn the walls, including illustrations from the Iliad, accompanied by the names of the gods and heroes depicted.

House of Paquius Proculus

A guard dog greets you as you enter this home. Further toward the atrium two centaurs and a goat are featured. Look up and see birds and animals in black and white. The building features decor that dates back to the 2nd century BCE to just before the eruption of Vesuvius. Interior decoration changed with the trends.

Praedia of Julia Felix

Julia Felix, the last owner of this complex—which spanned two city blocks—was recorded in a lease announcement painted on the building’s façade. For rent was a luxurious bath complex, and a series of shops, with associated lodgings on the first floor; and further residential rooms on the upper floor.

House of Venus in a Shell

This home belonged to one of the most prominent families in Pompeii. A painted wall shows garden scenes, one featuring a fountain with a water basin, the other a statue of Mars.

House of the Vettii

This was the property of two wealthy traders, Aulus Vettius Conviva and Aulus Vettius Restitutus. Scenes painted on the walls show aspects of wine production, indicating that the Vettii brothers were likely involved in viticulture.

House and Thermopolium of Vetutius Placidus

A thermopolium was a place to buy hot food. This particular counter was discovered during the 2019 excavations.