Casa Sannitica, or Samnite House, is one of the oldest and best-preserved houses in ancient Herculaneum. Built in the 2nd century BCE, its architecture is an excellent example of a stately residence belonging to a wealthy family of the Republican period. The house’s name refers to its decorations, inspired by the art of the Samnites, a people who inhabited southern Italy before Roman domination.
The house’s most distinctive feature is the stately atrium with a two-story colonnade, one of the most beautiful interiors discovered in Herculaneum. Fragments of stucco and paintings in the so-called First Pompeian Style, imitating lavish marble cladding, have been preserved here. The residence’s layout and decoration demonstrate the owners’ high social status and their devotion to traditional forms of Italian architecture.
The house reopened to visitors after the completion of conservation work conducted by the Herculaneum Conservation Project. The leaking roof was repaired and the wall decorations, which had suffered from moisture damage, were protected. This allows visitors to once again admire one of the most beautiful examples of a Roman house from the Republican era.
However, Casa Sannitica remains a very fragile monument. Despite having survived almost 2,000 years since the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, it still requires constant protection from the elements and intense tourist traffic. A plaque on the property notes that even rubbing backpacks against the walls or sitting on the ancient walls can cause irreversible damage.
Numerous everyday objects were found in the house, including ceramic vessels and glass bottles, providing a deeper understanding of the lives of the inhabitants of Herculaneum.
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- Interior of the Samnite House in Herculaneum
