Villa Boscoreale

Villa Boscoreale is a name given to any of several Roman villas discovered in the district of Boscoreale, Italy. They were all buried and preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, along with Pompeii and Herculaneum. The only one visible in situ today is the Villa Regina, the others being reburied soon after their discovery. Although these villas can be classified as "rustic" (villae rusticae) rather than of otium due to their agricultural sections and sometimes lack of the most luxurious amenities, they were often embellished with extremely luxurious decorations such as frescoes, testifying to the wealth of the owners. Among the most important finds are the exquisite frescoes from the Villa of Publius Fannius Synistor and the sumptuous Boscoreale Treasure of the Villa della Pisanella, which is now displayed in several major museums.

In Roman times this area, like the whole of Campania, was agricultural despite its proximity to cities including Pompeii, and specialised in wine and olive oil.

Information on, and objects from, the villas can also be seen in the nearby Antiquarium di Boscoreale.

Many other Roman villas were discovered in the vicinity, often by "treasure" hunters towards the end of the 19th century after which they were reburied, including notably the villas:

This rustic villa was discovered more recently, in 1977, buried under approximately 26 feet (about 8 meters) of compressed volcanic ash and material from pyroclastic flow, later topped by material from daily activity through the centuries. Unlike the villas plundered and reburied by treasure hunters, Villa Regina was treated as an archaeological discovery and therefore has been preserved in its complete state. The villa is a comfortable working farm rather than a luxurious estate that others nearby were. Nonetheless, an elegant central courtyard is colonnaded on three sides with columns of red and white stucco.

Large quantities of pottery and farm implements were found. Plaster casts of the original entrance doors were made from the hollow spaces left. A plaster cast of a pig found here and killed in the catastrophe was also made.

It also includes preserved parts of a wine press. Near the center of the villa is the wine cellar in which 18 dolia, of total capacity 10,000 liters, were buried for storing the must from the adjoining press.

An unusual find was an oil lamp dating from the 3-5th c. AD showing that the place was tunnelled into in the later Roman era.