VII.6.22 Pompeii. Caupona. Linked to VII .6.23,
VII .6.24 and VII .6.25.
Excavated 1762, 1846, 1872, 1910.
According to Garcia y Garcia Region VII, Insula VI was one of the insulae most devastated over the years since its excavation.
He calls it the “Cinderella” of Pompeii. Between the years 1759 and 1762 it was vandalised and stripped by the Bourbons, then re-interred.
Then came the slow and non-systematic uncovering again before the final destruction in September 1943.
The area was ignored and abandoned during the years following the war, which reduced the insula to a heap of bricks and masonry.
See Garcia y Garcia,
L., 2006. Danni di guerra a Pompei. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider. (p.102).
According
to Fiorelli,
19-22. Four
workshops, whose external pillars were of Nocera stone, they follow on from the
Cistern, and contained other more internal rooms with hearths, also the second
of them having a sales podium with three urns.
(19-22. Quattro botteghe, i cui pilastri esterni
sono di pietra nucerina, fanno seguito alla cisterna, e contengono celle piu
interne con focolari, avendo anche la seconda di esso il podio della vendita
con tre urne.)
See Pappalardo,
U., 2001. La Descrizione di Pompei per
Giuseppe Fiorelli (1875). Napoli: Massa Editore. (p.160).
According to NdS, (linked with VII.6.23, 24, 25).
This was a large workshop with two entrance doorways in Vicolo delle Terme and with two in Vicolo dei Soprastanti, resulting in rooms from no. 84 to no.89 on the plan. Likewise composed of rustic rooms and preserved, in general, in the lower part of the walls. In one of the small rooms at the rear of the entrance doorway (XXII), a terracotta lamp with one handle was found with an obscene relief (inv. 391, 5th March 1909). On the brick plaster of room 86, (see VII.6.20) came back to light, for the second time, an inscription made with a paintbrush, in red. M.C.N – PECVNIA SVA.
(Note: according to NdS, this inscription was read by Della Corte as M.C.N – PECVNIA SVA, whereas Zangmeister reads it as M.C.PEQVNIAM.)
From the entrances XIX to XXIII, the façade of the entire insula, in that which remains, is shown totally made with blocks of Nucerian Tufa: and the internal rooms show that here and there, the construction in blocks of Sarno stone and with the tall and tapered doorways. Also, this side of the insula dates back in its first construction to a very ancient time.
(XXII to XXV. Grande bottega con due ingressi nel
vico delle Terme e due in quelle dei Soprastanti. Risultante dagli ambienti dal
no.84 al n,89. Parimente si compone di ambienti rustici e conservati, in
generale, nella parte bassa delle pareti. In uno dei piccolo ambienti in fondo
al vano d’ingreso XXII, si rinvenne una lucerna di terracotta, monolychne,
lunga m.0.104, con rappresentanza oscena rilevata sul disco (391,5-III-909).
Sull’intonaco laterizio dell’ambiente 86 torno in luce, per la seconda volta,
una iscrizione tracciata col pennello in rosso:
M.C.N – PECVNIA SVA.
Dai vani XIX a XXIII la facciata di tutta l’isola,
in quello che resta, si mostra totalmente fatta con parallelepipedi di tufo
nocerino: e gli ambienti interni mostrano qua e la la
costruzione in blocchi di pietra sarnense e i vani alti e rastremati. Anche
questo lato dell’isola risale dunque nella sua prima costruzione ad un tempo
antichissimo.)
See Notizie degli Scavi, 1910, p.463,
VII.6.22 Pompeii. Plan based on PPM.
See Carratelli, G. P., 1990-2003. Pompei: Pitture e Mosaici: Vol. VII.
Roma: Istituto della enciclopedia italiana,
p. 182.
VII.6.22 Pompeii. March 2009. Entrance.
According to Garcia y Garcia, this area was nearly all destroyed by the September 1943 bombing.
It is now occupied by a modern alfresco, a dependant of the nearby restaurant, for outdoor eating.
See Garcia y
Garcia, L., 2006. Danni di guerra a Pompei. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider. (p.102)
VII.6.22 Pompeii. March 2009. Threshold or sill.
VII.6.22 Pompeii. December 2006. Entrance on Vicolo delle Terme. Looking south.
VII.6.22 Pompeii. December 2006. Room of caupona.
According to Eschebach, at the rear on the right was a small room together with another that was the kitchen.
On the left was a doorway leading to VII.6.25.
See Eschebach, L., 1993. Gebäudeverzeichnis und Stadtplan der antiken Stadt Pompeji. Köln: Böhlau. (p.295)
VII.6.22 Pompeii. May 2006. Restaurant - outside seating area.