The Villa Vergiliana

 by Kelli

The Villa Vergiliana is perched beside an ancient Roman amphitheater

The Villa Vergiliana has hosted the Overlake Latin Ancient Field Studies Program for decades. This year's students enjoyed their time at the Villa immensely,  just like all previous Overlake students who have been lucky enough to experience this magical place.

Mina's family has been operating the Villa Vergiliana near Naples for more than 70 years, and the care they have for their visiting scholars was evident the minute we arrived.

Mina welcomes Overlake to the Villa

The Vergilian Society describes the Villa Vergiliana in this way:

For over 50 years the Harry Wilks Study Center at the Villa Vergiliana, a magnificent three-story villa situated at the northwestern corner of the Bay of Naples, has hosted students and academics in this culturally dynamic region. It is sited in extensive grounds within the archaeological park of Cumae adjacent to the Roman amphitheater with many of the guest rooms and salons enjoying spectacular window and balcony views over the Tyrrhenian Sea and the site of Cumae. As a Study Center, The Harry Wilks Study Center at the Villa Vergiliana offers the perfect facility for an academic conference or study abroad program.

Villa Vergiliana is the perfect home away from home after busy days exploring the archeological sites of the region. The home-cooked family meals every evening were a true highlight for everyone. We enjoyed time to bond and reflect on our experiences in the Villa each night. Many students hope to return someday during their university studies!

Checking out the grounds from the guest rooms

Roommates

Leaving the Villa for our daily explorations

The staircase in the Villa

Common areas

Where we take our coffee and tea after dinner!

The study is filled with fascinating books

A room in the Villa

Hanging out after dinner

View from the roof--Roman ruins, Ischia Island, and the beautiful Mediterranean

Walls of the ruins with a poppy

Frolicking among the ruins and fruit trees

Sunset. Can we just stay here forever?

Still life with Amalfi lemon

Dusk on the patio

Time for homemade dessert! Crostata di fragole.

Ana made our meals and always brought out seconds!

There is always room for dessert.

Kristin created a beautiful entry for the guestbook. It's a tradition!

A Photo Diary of Pompeii

Photos by Kelli

Hadrian’s Villa

By Isabella

Photos by Kelli

Hadrian’s Villa was definitely the site I was most excited to see on this portion of the trip, and it exceeded all the expectations I had of it. After a walk up the hill, the path opened up to the first pool on the property. It was still intact and even had water in it which was exciting to see since it made it easier to imagine how impressive the buildings surrounding it once were. 

We continued on, and I was in awe of the size of the buildings we were passing. Images I had seen of them did not do them justice, they were so much larger and more impressive in person. This feeling was present even more when we reached the next pool that had statues and columns lining the edges. Just like the first pool, there was still water inside but this pool had a decent amount of fish as well! 

Overall, I loved walking around the ruins and could have spent all day exploring or just sitting and imagining what they used to look like lined with marble. The architecture was beautiful and it was cool to imagine what it would have been like to hang out in the villa with Hadrian.  

Pompeii

Pompeii--by Henry and Rohan

Photos by Kelli and Henry

 Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii

Pompeii is like Ostia Antica but much larger and expansive. Herculaneum was a nice warm up, but there are fewer streets and less variety of types of structures than Pompeii. We did see a cat though!

 

Photo by Henry

 

The bones stuck at the docks were indeed a grim reminder of the destructive power of Vesuvius.

 

Skeletal remains on the dock of Herculaneum of those waiting for a rescue by sea that never came. 

There were fewer plaster casts of the dead on display at Pompeii, despite the greater number who died there.

 

Plaster casts of remains of people and animals buried in Pompeii 

Perhaps a little disappointing but probably for the better that Pompeii doesn’t show its visitors heaps of body casts, although personally I would have liked to see some more casts in more unique positions other than just the general expected ones, when someone is being burnt and pummeled by a pyroclastic flow. 

We started our visit to Pompeii with a visit to the gladiator training grounds, which also had some burnt bread that I think I would like to try one day if it wasn’t probably very carcinogenic and would give me 324 different diseases and medical conditions.

The amphitheater was next, where we entered through the tunnels that the gladiators used directly onto the arena floor. In the regular theater, we were able to sit in the stands where the audience sat. The theater was an impressively preserved structure and had a very calm black cat who was sunbathing even under the barking of a dog. 

It’s impressive just how well-preserved Pompeii is, and it’s hard to truly comprehend just how similar it is to be walking around the streets of modern Rome or Naples until the you are walking on the cobbles and surrounded by mostly intact houses.

Photo by Henry

Although Caecilius’s house (whose story we read about extensively in middle school Latin) was closed to the public and was probably undergoing some restoration or whatnot, at least we could see the garden and imagine that Caecilius est in horto.

 

Caecilius’s house

More experiences in Pompeii: