![]() It is interesting that no bedrooms or cooking areas have yet been found – this palace seems to be built for pleasure alone, entertainment for the rich and famous. A mass of dining rooms and grottos for his guests to relax in and every room made the best use of natural light and vantage of the views of the manicured gardens outside. Nero liked to entertain in the most extravagant ways. The height of these rooms is gob smacking – and to think this is all underground! The tour guide is an archaeologist and so passionate about the history and full of information it’s hard not to ooh and aah at every turn while you crane your neck looking up at the vastness of it all. ![]() The entrance to the Domus Aurea is up that hill, to the left (there are signs when you get this far), off Via Lubicana.ĭonned with a yellow plastic hard hat, non-compulsory as this is an excavation site, we are guided down many steps underground and through the palace (well, only a component of its entirety as only a small amount has been excavated, but that in itself is mind-blowingly huge). Past the Colosseum’s back entrance lies the Oppian Hill ( Colle Oppio), one of the seven hills of Rome. As it was only re-opened to the public last year there’s no signage till you are actually almost at the site, and because it’s all underground you can’t see any structure from above to guide you. For such a huge place, the site is not easy to find. I reserved my tickets a few months in advance to be sure. Numbers are limited, so tickets need to be reserved ahead of time. Tickets are available through the Coop Culture site (the official and least expensive site for most of Rome’s places of interest). The Domus Aurea is an excavation site, as archaeologists are still working to find all of its secrets, however it is open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays only. The entrance to the Domus Aurea, these walls are actually part of the baths of Trajan. You could tell he liked to indulge, that thick wobbly neck and chubby cheeks says it all. This was opulence taken to an extreme level, and it’s been hiding under Rome since 68AD. This was a palace more over-the-top than anything you could imagine. This was even more extravagant than any Emperor had seen. Walls covered in gemstones, ivory and pure gold, incredible water features, intricate artworks, even a spinning dome that showered perfumed rose petals from above. Poor Nero, he must have been living in squalor before he could move into his 300 room abode set on 200 hectares of manicured gardens, fountains, a huge man-made lake as big as the Colosseum (actually the Colosseum sits on top of where the lake was today) and every mod-con you could ask for in 65AD. That is apparently what Emperor Nero had to say when his Golden Palace, Domus Aurea, was finally built. The access is allowed to a maximum of 20 people, including guides and companions, for each time slot.“Now I can begin to live as a human being.” Price categories: Reduced tickets are valid for people under 18 years old onlyĬancellation policy: The booking cannot be cancelled nor modified once confirmed IMPORTANT: due to the quantity of requests, your order IS CONFIRMED ONLY AFTER you receive the confirmation voucher, one business day after placing your order. Conceived for the celebrations of the 500th anniversary of Raphael Sanzio’s death, the exceptional immersive exhibition is dedicated to the rediscovery of ancient painting, buried in the “caves” of the forgotten ruins of Nero’s immense imperial palace. Nero’s residence hosts for the first time an exhibition in the Octagonal Hall: “Raphael and the Domus Aurea. The Domus Aurea reopens to the public with a renewed lighting system that magnifies the spaces and decorations. With a renewed lighting system that magnifies the spaces and decorations, Nero’s residence hosts for the first time an exhibition in the Octagonal Hall: “Raphael and the Domus Aurea.
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