I.1.8 Pompeii. Hospitium of Hermes.

Linked to I.1.6 and I.1.9. Excavated 1872, 2010, 2011. Bombed in 1943.

I.1.8 Pompeii. 1935 photo taken by Tatiana Warscher.

Looking north along Via Stabiana towards junction, centre left, with Vicolo del Conciapelle described as Via Tertia, from outside the ramp of I.1.8.

See Warscher T., 1935. Codex Topographicus Pompeianus: Regio I.2. (no.66), Rome: DAIR, whose copyright it remains.

I.1.8 Pompeii. October 2024.

Looking towards entrance doorway, with I.1.7, threshold of doorway of steps to upper floor, on right. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

I.1.8 Pompeii. September 2010. Entrance doorway, looking east from Via Stabiana.

The entrance for I.1.7 is on the right side of the entrance. Photo courtesy of Drew Baker.

According to Warscher, quoting Mau in Bull. Inst 1875, p.30,

I.1.6-9: “Segue un altro albergo, molto simile a questo descritto.  Qui pure è interrotto il marciapiede per lasciar entrare i legni.

L’entrata era chiuse mediante una porta a quattro partiti, congiunti a due adue, come si conosce dai quattro buchi per i chiavistelli.

Qui pure si entra prima in un compreso che ha le dimensioni d’una bottega grande con una dietrobottega e posteriormente si apre sopra una grande corte, lungo il cui muro di fondo qui pure si stende la stalla, larga 13,30, profonda 2,47 con una finestra sul vico settentrionale e due porte, una all’estremità meridionale, l’altra poco distante da quella settentrionale.

Presso a quest’ultima una parte della corte è selciata. 

Lungo il muro N vi sono due camere con finestre sul medesimo vico, e prossimo alla stalla il cesso.

Si vede anche il cesso del piano superiore e i tubi di mattone d’un terzo, che stava ancora più in alto. 

Nell’angolo NO vi sono I primi gradini d’una scala, la cui parte superiore sarà stata di legno, in quello SO l’apertura della cisterna, e accanto nella stessa massa di materiale una vasca lunga stretta e bassa, come quella sudescritta nella casa adiacente.

Qui la vediamo frapposto fra la cisterna ed il muro di O, il che esclude categoricamente l’aver essa servito d’abbeveratoio.

Dalla parte più bassa di essa, aperta come nella casa sudescritta, l’acqua colava in un’altra vasca larga 1,02 x 1,54, di cui un lato viene formato dalla suddetta massa di fabbrica, uno dal muro occidentale, i due rimanenti da appositi muricciuoli. 

Essa ha al fondo uno scolo verso N, che dà in un vaso ossia tubo di mattone, incastrato nel suolo.

Nella parete vi era la pittura dei Lari, di cui sono rimasti soltanto i serpi.

A destra dell’ingresso per i legni sta un locale come una bottega.

L’essere esso congiunto mediante una porta con quel primo compreso, ove entravano i legni, ci lascia supporre, aver esso servito di caupona per i vetturini”.

See Warscher T., 1935. Codex Topographicus Pompeianus: Regio I.1/I.5. (no.14), Rome: DAIR, whose copyright it remains.  

(for a translation see, I.1.6).

I.1.8 Pompeii. 1966.

Looking across the Via Stabiana, from rear of VIII.7.8, towards the ramp of the entrance doorway.

Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.

Source: The Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.

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I.1.8 Pompeii. September 2010. Detail of sloping pavement onto Via Stabiana, looking east. Photo courtesy of Drew Baker.

I.1.8 Pompeii. September 2010. Detail of sloping pavement onto Via Stabiana, looking west. Photo courtesy of Drew Baker.

I.1.8 Pompeii. September 2005. Entrance. 

On the north (left) wall of the vestibule was formerly a lararium painting - now destroyed. 

Beside a round altar stood the Genius, performing a sacrifice with the aid of tibicen and camillus, the latter of carrying a shallow dish in one hand.

The two Lares were on either side.  Around the altar was a coiled serpent. 

In the lower zone there were two other serpents, one on each side of a masonry projection above which was painted a pine cone. 

Between these two serpents was the figure of a man pouring wine from an amphora into a dolium. 

Above his head was written the name of Hermes [CIL IV 3355].  Presumably the name of the proprietor of the hospitium.

Opposite the painting, leaning against the south (right) wall, was a hearth for cooking.

Near to the hearth was the door that led to No.6.

See Boyce G. K., 1937. Corpus of the Lararia of Pompeii. Rome: MAAR 14. (p.21)

See Della Corte, M., 1965.  Case ed Abitanti di Pompei. Napoli: Fausto Fiorentino. (p.265)

See Fröhlich, T., 1991. Lararien und Fassadenbilder in den Vesuvstädten. Mainz: von Zabern. (p.249, L2)

See Pappalardo, U., 2001. La Descrizione di Pompei per Giuseppe Fiorelli (1875). Napoli: Massa Editore. (p.33)

I.1.8 Pompeii. 1872 drawing by Geremia Discanno of lararium painting.

Records from the 19th century excavations of this property described a painted shrine on the north wall of the ‘first room’.

It has been unclear which of the three street-side rooms of the property is the ‘first room’.

Only this sketch remains, which depicts an upper and lower register of decoration with various figures.

The lower register of the shrine’s decoration depicted a man carrying an amphora, ready to pour its contents into a dolium.

He was labelled HERMES and this is the reason the property has traditionally been named the Hospitium of Hermes. [CIL IV, 3355].

Flanking Hermes were two coiled serpents, rearing up toward an altar that was topped by a pinecone.

The upper register of the shrine’s decoration depicted a togate genius with cornucopia and patera next to a shrine with a snake coiled around it.

To the right of the genius was the camillus holding a patera and perhaps a rooster, and to the left of the genius and altar was a tibicen.

This scene was flanked by the twin Lares, and a garland or ribbon crowned the scene.

Nothing of the painted shrine survives.

Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number ADS 2.

Photo © ICCD. http://www.catalogo.beniculturali.it

The ICCD Scheda refers to this as being from I.1.9 Caupona of Hermes.

Utilizzabili alle condizioni della licenza Attribuzione - Non commerciale - Condividi allo stesso modo 2.5 Italia (CC BY-NC-SA 2.5 IT)

I.1.8 Pompeii. September 2010. North wall of entrance room, with doorway leading to I.1.9. Photo courtesy of Drew Baker.

In the 2011 excavations led by Stephen Ellis they were able to recognise the precise location of the lararium.

It would have been on the wall to the right of the doorway in this photograph.

This conclusion was based on the sketches themselves more than on the earliest written descriptions.

The altar appears in the sketch to have been three-dimensional, with a tile jutting out from the wall face upon which to place offerings.

Their analysis of the standing architecture revealed what may be the remnants of that tile.

On the southern face of the north wall in the entrance area, a heavily damaged tile projecting from the wall is preserved. On the top of this tile are traces of plaster, and mortar can be seen on its under-side – this served to level the tile within the uneven wall construction.

If this was indeed the same tile as shown in the sketches, then we are able to place the shrine to the east of the southern door from I.1.8 to I.1.9, and thus on the northern wall of the entrance courtyard of I.1.8.

Here it would have been visible from the street.

See www.fastionline.org/docs/FOLDER-it-2012-262.pdf

I.1.8 Pompeii. October 2024. Looking east across large entrance room. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

I.1.8 Pompeii. September 2010. Looking east across large entrance room. Photo courtesy of Drew Baker.

See also - Packer, Jim: Inns at Pompeii: a short survey. In Cronache Pompeiane, IV, 1978, (p.6-9).

I.1.8 Pompeii. October 2024.

Doorway leading to I.1.9, on left, with north wall of large entrance room, in centre. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

I.1.8 Pompeii. October 2024. Looking towards south wall of entrance room, with doorway leading to I.1.6. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

I.1.8 Pompeii. October 2024.

South wall of entrance room, with hearth, in centre, and doorway leading to I.1.6, on right. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

I.1.8 Pompeii. September 2010. South wall of entrance room, with doorway leading to I.1.6. Photo courtesy of Drew Baker.

I.1.8 Pompeii. October 2024. Looking south with detail of hearth against south wall of main entrance room. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

I.1.8 Pompeii. September 2010.

Feature detail hearth on south wall of main entrance room. Looking south. Photo courtesy of Drew Baker.

I.1.8 Pompeii. October 2024. Looking south-east towards hearth. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

I.1.8 Pompeii. October 2024. Looking south-east towards doorway leading to small room behind I.1.6. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

I.1.8 Pompeii. September 2010.

Second doorway in south wall of entrance room, leading to small room behind I.1.6. Photo courtesy of Drew Baker.

I.1.8 Pompeii. September 2010. North wall of small room, with doorway to large entrance room. Photo courtesy of Drew Baker.

I.1.8 Pompeii. September 2010.

Large rear yard. Looking west across entrance room towards Via Stabiana. Photo courtesy of Drew Baker.

I.1.8 Pompeii. September 2010. Doorway to room on north side of yard, possibly a dormitory.

The remains of the steps to upper floor are on the left of the photo. Photo courtesy of Drew Baker.

I.1.8 Pompeii. September 2010.

North-west corner of dormitory on north side of yard. Looking west.  Photo courtesy of Drew Baker.

I.1.8 Pompeii. September 2010. North wall and north-west corner of yard. Photo courtesy of Drew Baker.

Originally this would have been the site of other rooms.

These were bombed in 1943, destroying the internal walls and part of the north perimeter wall.

See Garcia y Garcia, L., 2006. Danni di guerra a Pompei. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider. (p.37).

I.1.8 Pompeii. Pre-1937-39. Taverna Hermes. Looking towards a room against the north wall.

Photo courtesy of American Academy in Rome, Photographic Archive. Warsher collection no. 1074.

I.1.8 Pompeii. Pre-1937-39. Looking towards two rooms against the north wall.

According to Warsher –

“In the above photo, one could still see the latrine situated on the upper floor, and a brick pipe from a third latrine, which was even higher up on the wall”. The pipe can be seen on the right.

Photo courtesy of American Academy in Rome, Photographic Archive. Warsher collection no. 001.

I.1.8 Pompeii. 1936, taken by Tatiana Warscher.  Looking towards north wall.

According to Warscher, quoting Mau in Bull. Inst. 1875, p.30/31, along the north wall there were two rooms with windows overlooking the northern vicolo (now named Vicolo del Conciapelle), and a latrine nearer the stables at the north-east end.

In the above photo, one could still see the latrine situated on the upper floor, and a brick pipe from a third latrine, which was even higher up on the wall.

See Warscher T., 1936. Codex Topographicus Pompeianus: Regio I.1, I.5. (no.15), Rome: DAIR, whose copyright it remains.

I.1.8 Pompeii. October 2024. Looking towards north-east corner and east wall. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

I.1.8 Pompeii. October 2024. Looking east in north-east corner. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

I.1.8 Pompeii. October 2024. Looking towards east wall and south-east corner. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

I.1.8 Pompeii. October 2024. Looking south-east across yard, towards the stables area, at rear of small wall. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

I.1.8 Pompeii. September 2010.

Looking south across yard, behind the wall on the left would have been the stables area. Photo courtesy of Drew Baker.

I.1.8 Pompeii. September 2010. Photo courtesy of Drew Baker.

West wall of rear yard, with feature in south-west corner, possibly a masonry watering trough. Looking west.

See Mau, A., 1907, translated by Kelsey, F. W., Pompeii: Its Life and Art. New York: Macmillan. (p. 401-2).

I.1.8 Pompeii. October 2024.

Rear of hospitium, looking south-west across I.1.8 towards Stabian Gate, from Vicolo del Conciapelle. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

I.1.8 Pompeii. December 2006. Rear of hospitium, looking south across I.1.8 towards Stabian Gate, from Vicolo del Conciapelle.

I.1.8 Pompeii. 1966.

Looking south across insula towards the Stabian Gate, centre right hidden in the plants. Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.

Source: The Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.

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I.1.8 Pompeii. 1966. Looking south-west across insula.  Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.

Source: The Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.

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In Codex Topographicus Pompeianus: Regio I.1/I.5, (the copy at DAIR), Warscher included Viola’s description of the insula, from

Gli scavi di Pompei dal 1873 al 1878, introduzione (Pompei e la regione sotterrata dal Vesuvio nell’anno 1879, Napoli, 1879).

This is included at the end in all parts of I.1 on the website.

“Parlando dell’Insula I, Regio I – dicevo che in origine essa dovette essere unita all’isola V, la quale ha ricevuto questo numero sol perchè scavata posteriormente alle altre quattro della stessa regione.  La causa per cui questo spazio fu per mezzo di un vico diviso in due parti noi la ignoriamo, laddove non si può porre in dubbio che tutta questa seconda parte dovette appartenere a un solo proprietario, perchè quasi tutta occupata da un solo edifizio; che le altre due ristrettissima località furono ricavate posteriormente.

La sua area è di m.q. 1595-72: ed è limitata a settentrione dalla via tertia, che la separa dalla isola 2, ad oriente ed occidente da due vicoli privi di selciato, e a mezzogiorno dell’agger che fiancheggia le mura; senza dubbio essa faceva parte de’ quartieri ignobili della città, almeno per quanto può congettarsi dal mestiere che vi si esercitasse e della rozzezza della costruzione.  Anche quivi avvennero frequenti trasformazioni, come affermano gli avanzi di costruzioni appartenenti a diverse epoche.

Come si vede dalla prefazione del prof. Viola – fu un malintese con la numerazione delle insulae della Regio I: non si aspettava che vi fosse un vicolo che separa l’insula I dell’insula vicina, e a questa altra fu dato il numero 5 – poiché i numeri 2, 3 e 4 sono stati dati alle insulae scavate prima.  Ma io sono dell’opinione che sia meglio non cambiare i numeri una volta dati, poiché sarebbe troppo difficile di orientarsi nei rendiconti contemporanei agli scavi.

Il vicolo che separa l’insula I della insula 5 – dà l’impressione di un passaggio stretto, nessuna porta, nessuna finestra non danno in questo vicolo.

La mia fotografia è molto tipica per l’insula intiera: muri di tufo o di pietra di Sarno completati nell’epoca tardiva di mattoni; non è possibile di seguire i cambiamenti che avevano luogo nell’insula in questione.  Noi abbiamo, come si vede tre case con thermopolia, cauponae per la gente povera.

Non è rimasta niente della pittura murale”.

See Warscher T., 1935. Codex Topographicus Pompeianus: Regio I.1/I.5. Rome: DAIR.