Surrounded by the sea: re-investigating the villa maritima del Capo di Sorrento. Interim report

Extract

A traveler passing by ship in front of the peninsula during the 1st c. A.D. would have marveled at a continuous chain of private villas lining the coast (figs. 1-2). Although evidence of these villas survives to the present day, our knowledge is mostly fragmentary due to the fact that many are buried beneath modern estates or have been swallowed by the sea. Between the village of Aequa (near Vico Equense) and the far side of the Sorrentine peninsula with its adjoining islets a total of 24 ruins have been identified as structures related to villae maritimae, commonly dated on the basis of their building techniques to between the Late Republican period and the start of the 2nd c. A.D. Key architectural features of these villas include different porticoes, panoramic exedras, artificial and natural grottos, galleries, nymphaea and piscinae. What all these elements have in common is that they are situated at the very point of contact with the sea and use the bedrock as the ground for construction.