In Oplontis, which in antiquity was a suburban district of Pompeii destroyed by the eruption of 79 A.D., a villa has been found that may have belonged to Poppaea Sabina, the second wife of the Emperor Nero.

It is a magnificent residential building from the mid-1st century B.C., and one of the best preserved examples of an otium villa.

Its decoration and the beauty of its views meant this villa had no reason to envy other imperial residences. The decorative scheme of sculptures and splendid frescoes is breathtaking.

The excavations lie at the center of the modern city of Torre Annunziata.

The main monument, and the only one currently accessible at the Oplontis excavations, is the Villa of Poppea, which has been listed as a ‘World Heritage Site’ by UNESCO:

the villa, which is built on a grand scale and adorned with splendid frescoes and numerous marble sculptures, was extended in the Claudian Age.

The attribution to Poppaea Sabina stems from the discovery of an inscription painted on an amphora, addressed to Secundus, Poppaea’s freedman: it must in any case have been part of the vast property of the imperial family, who, like many other members of the Roman aristocracy, favored the Campanian coast, already famed in antiquity for the salubriousness of its climate, and delighted in building sumptuous residential villas there.