V.2.1 Pompeii. Casa della Regina Margherita or House of Queen Margherita.

Back entrance at V.2.a.  Excavated 1883. Bombed in 1943.

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V.2.1 Pompeii. September 2015. Entrance doorway to atrium.

V.2.1 Pompeii. September 2021.

Looking north from the entrance corridor/fauces across the atrium and site of impluvium to the garden area.

Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

V.2.1 Pompeii. September 2021.

Looking north from the entrance corridor/fauces across the atrium and site of impluvium to the garden area. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

V.2.1 Pompeii. September 2015. Looking north from the entrance fauces across the atrium and site of impluvium to the garden area.

According to Garcia y Garcia –

“On the 13th of September 1943, a bomb of huge calibre fully hit the atrium of this house, destroying apart from the cubiculum to the east of the atrium, the floor of the impluvium and its puteal, and also all of the rooms around the atrium with their dividing walls.

The bomb also caused the grave loss of IV Style paintings in the two cubicula to the west of the tablinum, that were originally decorated – the first with the paintings of “Leda and the Swan” and of “Poseidon and Amymone”, and the second, bigger and with the recess for the bed, with the paintings of “Marsyas and Olympus”, “Giove/Zeus and Danae”, and “Meleager and Atalanta”; two of these paintings were lost and it was only possible to recompose them from fragments. Also, the large, windowed triclinium on the south-east side of the garden area suffered the notable damage that came, but only in part, and was hastily restored, and some of the collapsed paintings were able to be recomposed from the thousands of fragments.”

See Garcia y Garcia, L., 2006. Danni di guerra a Pompei. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider, (p.62).

V.2.1 Pompeii. June 2012. Looking north from the entrance fauces across the atrium. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.

V.2.1 Pompeii. September 2004. 

Looking north from the entrance fauces “h” across the atrium and impluvium area to the garden area.

According to Mau,

“By a short corridor “h” one goes into the atrium with floor of opus signinum which used crushed lava instead of crushed brick.

The impluvium was covered by a large amount of stucco and small pieces of travertine, from which a covered channel, which headed towards the SW corner, carried the water onto the western roadway; it had a vent in a travertine stone in the same atrium. To the right of the impluvium was a simple travertine puteal, with many traces of the ropes; but the opening of the cistern that stood on the north edge of the impluvium, had been closed by the ancients themselves.

All the atrium walls were decorated with a red zoccolo/dado, divided into compartments by black stripes and by white and yellow lines; above this the plaster was rough.

A fragment of tile with a stamp was collected in the atrium:

V.2.1 Pompeii. According to Mau, this was inscribed on a tile found in the atrium.

See Mau, Bullettino dell’Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica (DAIR), 1885, p.158.

V.2.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Room 1, looking south across the atrium to the entrance.

On the south side of the atrium are the doorways to our rooms 2, on the left, and room 4, on right of entrance corridor.

The doorway to room 5 can be seen on the right.

(BdI, room letters on plan) - Doorway to room “u”, on left of entrance corridor, room “k” on right of entrance corridor, room “l” on right-hand side.

According to Mau, in the distribution of the rooms, this house did not follow the regular scheme but had obeyed the needs of the confined space. 

Around the atrium were three cubicula, (k, l and u), a storeroom or cella penaria (s), and the stairs to the upper floor (n); next to the tablinum and accessible from it were two spacious tricliniums (“p and r”), of which (“r”), which had a wide window in its north wall onto the garden could have been called the summer triclinium, and the smaller room with wide entrance (“o”) could have been used for family dinners.

See Mau, Bullettino dell’Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica (DAIR), 1885, p.158.

According to PPM, 

The atrium with a similar red zoccolo, divided into compartments, had the middle zone of the walls with raw (rough) plaster. 

The three cubicula (“k”, “l” and “u”) had tripartite walls in panels with vignettes (birds, deer, griffins, only in “l” a medallion with painted masks was preserved) in “k”, these were executed more crudely; in “u”, on the south wall in the lunette was preserved a painted basket from which figs had fallen.

See Carratelli, G. P., 1990-2003. Pompei: Pitture e Mosaici: Vol. III. Roma: Istituto della enciclopedia italiana, (p.774).

V.2.1 Pompeii. March 2009. Doorway to room 2, cubiculum.

According to Mau,

in this room (3.18 x 2.92m and 2.48 high, up until the start of the decorative vault), it can be seen from the better conservation of the floor (opus signinum) that the bed was near to the door.

The decoration of the walls was seen with a red background, except for the zoccolo/dado which was black and adorned with plants. In the centre of the side panels were painted deer and birds, in the middle of the right wall was a griffin with cornucopia between the paws. In the lunette against the door was represented an overturned basket, from which figs fell.

See Bullettino dell’Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica (DAIR), 1885, (p. 159-160) (seen as room “u”).

V.2.1 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 2, south wall.

V.2.1 Pompeii.  March 2009.  Room 1, looking north across atrium and site of impluvium. 

V.2.1 Pompeii.  December 2007. Looking north across the open tablinum “q” towards the garden area from the atrium.

V.2.1 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 1, east side of atrium, looking north to lararium recess and room 3.

V.2.1 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 1, recess “t” in north-east corner of atrium, outside room 3.

According to BdI –

“The recess/niche “t” was the lararium whose painted decorations were divided into three zones.

It was very ruined at the time of excavation, from the base –

Serpent near an altar, Fortuna with rudder and cornucopia, garlands and birds.”

According to PPM –

“The paintings, nearly vanished, were divided into three zones.

In the first (at the top) the painting in the middle was destroyed, on both sides there was a bird sitting above a garland

The second zone in the middle, had Fortuna (0.15 high) holding the rudder in her lowered right hand, and the cornucopia in the left hand; on both sides it seems that there was nothing but plants/herbs/grass?

The third zone contained a serpent with a crest, approaching the altar towards the left.

See Bullettino dell’Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica (DAIR), 1885, (p.159).

See Carratelli, G. P., 1990-2003. Pompei: Pitture e Mosaici: Vol. III. Roma: Istituto della enciclopedia italiana, (p.773).

V.2.1 Pompeii. March 2009. Doorway to room 3, small room/storeroom or cubiculum.

According to BdI, this was room “s” and did not have anything other than rough plaster.

V.2.1 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 3, east wall.

V.2.1 Pompeii. March 2009.

Room 1, looking west towards doorways to rooms 5, 6 and 7 in atrium. (BdI rooms – “l”, “m” and “n”).

According to Mau, the entrance to the atrium would have been from the western vicolo, by the fauces/entrance corridor “m”, our room 6 behind figure.

The walls had a red zoccolo/dado, above which on a white surface they were divided by red and yellow lines formed into rectangles (rettangoli giacenti).

The floor would have been of opus signinum, and in this flooring would have been seen an inscription formed in white stones, in the direction from the street towards the atrium.

And near to the entrance to the atrium, there was a sign, made in the same way –

V.2.1 Pompeii. Inscription and sign seen in fauces/corridor “m”, according to Mau.

See Mau, Bullettino dell’Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica (DAIR), 1885, (p.158-159).

V.2.1 Pompeii. March 2009. Doorway to room 4, cubiculum.

According to BdI,

The painting of "k" (2.74 x 3.87m), with a white background above a black zoccolo/dado dotted with red and yellow, was much inferior than those of "u" and "l", which looked like they were done by the same hand. In the middle of each compartment was a crudely painted bird.

See Bullettino dell’Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica (DAIR), 1885, (p.100)

V.2.1 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 4, south wall.

V.2.1 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 4, looking west towards the remains of west wall of the cubiculum, with latrine “e” at its rear.

It now looks like it is all the same room but would have been a separate latrine reached by a door, now blocked, which can be seen in the south wall, see V.2.a.

The doorway would have been on the north side of corridor “d” at V.2.a.

V.2.1 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 4, latrine floor at west end.

V.2.1 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 4, latrine at west end.

V.2.1 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 4, west wall of latrine.

V.2.1 Pompeii. March 2009. Doorway to room 5, cubiculum.

According to BdI,

“In “l” (3.27 x 2.78, 2.77 high) the walls were painted with a yellow background, other than the zoccolo which was black with the usual decorations of the last style. In the middle of the side panels one could see griffins, in the only compartment that was preserved (on the right) was a medallion with one or more tragic masks diam. (018).”

See Bullettino dell’Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica (DAIR), 1885, (p.160).

V.2.1 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 5, south-west corner.

V.2.1 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 5, zoccolo/dado in north-west corner.

V.2.1 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 6, corridor, on left, leading to blocked entrance between V.2.a and V.2.b (See V.2.a)

According to Mau, this was room “m” (on left), agreed by PPM as having a red zoccolo/dado above which, in the middle zone, would have been seen an imitation of a fake “opus quadratum” with ashlars outlined in red and yellow on a white background.

See Bullettino dell’Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica (DAIR), 1885, (p.100).

See Carratelli, G. P., 1990-2003. Pompei: Pitture e Mosaici: Vol. III. Roma: Istituto della enciclopedia italiana, (p.773)

V.2.1 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 6, small doorway at west end of corridor 6/“m”, leading to area under stairs.

V.2.1 Pompeii. March 2009. Room 7, looking west to stairs to upper floor (on right).

According to BdI,

“In “n” the understairs area, was also reached by a doorway from the fauces (room “m”).

Here was found an amphora with inscription written in red, but hardly readable: Prof. Sogliano read CALVENT.E but when I read it, all that there was there was too faded.”

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