Domus Aurea Review

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Domus Aurea

Fodor's Review:

Legend has it that Nero famously fiddled while Rome burned. Fancying himself a great actor and poet, he played, as it turns out, his harp to accompany his recital of "The Destruction of Troy" while gazing at the flames of Rome's catastrophic fire of AD 64. Anti-Neronian historians propagandized that Nero, in fact, had set the Great Fire to clear out a vast tract of the city center to build his new palace. Today's historians discount this as historical folderol (going so far as to point to the fact that there was a full moon on the evening of July 19th, hardly the propitious occasion to commit arson). But legend or not, Nero did get to build his new palace, the extravagant Domus Aurea (Golden House)—a vast "suburban villa" that was inspired by the emperor's pleasure palace at Baia on the Bay of Naples. His new digs were huge and sumptuous, with a facade of pure gold, seawater piped into the baths, decorations of mother-of-pearl, fretted ivory, and other precious materials, and vast gardens. It was said that after completing this gigantic house Nero exclaimed "Now I can live like a human being!"

Unfortunately, not much has survived of his palace. After closing for several years due to crumbling walls, the site is now "Open for restoration": every 40 minutes, a guide takes groups through the underground palace to witness the restoration work in progress. Reservations are mandatory and best made days in advance (keep in mind that the temperature underground is about 50°F all year-round). Unfortunately, all of the fabulous decors designed by Fabullus have vanished but you can still be awed by the famous Octagon Room, topped by an oculus, where Nero once displayed famous Greek statues like the Dying Gaul (now on view at Rome's Palazzo Altemps). Elsewhere are soaring vaults covered with faded Pompeiian-style frescoes, some of which came to inspire Raphael, who later used these models—known as grotesques because they were found in the so-called ruined grottoes of the palace—in his decorative motifs for the Vatican Loggia.

  • Cost: EUR 4.50
  • Open: Tues.-Fri.10-4
  • Metro: Colosseo
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