#MAREMonday 04

On 12.04.2021 we present the fourth session of our online lecture series with a contribution by

Michaela Reinfeld
(Römisch-Germanische Kommission)

A villa with two harbours? The Roman villa maritima on the Cape of Sorrento.

Abstract:

The roman villa maritima of Capo di Sorrento is located only 2 km from Sorrento on the northeastern foothill of the limestone plateau of the Sorrento Peninsula. It is just one of two dozen Roman sea villas that run like a pearl necklace along the coast of the peninsula. In the period from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD, the zenith of the villa construction activities, the villas along the Sorrento peninsula were connected by a dense network of small villa harbours. Its representative appearance is not only evident in the numerous wall paintings that have survived, but also in the discoveries that were made in the vicinity of the villa of Capo di Sorrento.

Since 2014, the villa is being investigated by the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin under the direction of Dr. Wolfgang Filser. The focus of the investigations is the exploration of the building history of the villa, the interplay of pars rustica and pars maritima, as well as the importance of the two presumed harbour facilities. The lecture presents the results of underwater archaeological and geological surveys, which provide evidence for the existence of two harbour basins that were connected by a monumental entrance portal. Evidence of a magnificent design of the harbour basins are also discussed.