ROME — One of the best-preserved ancient Roman homes on the Palatine Hill is opening to the public for the first time, albeit via a livestreamed tour of its hard-to-reach underground frescoes and mosaics.
The House of the Griffins was first discovered during the excavations in the early 20th century of the Palatine Hill, the verdant hill that rises up from the Roman Forum and dominates views of central Rome today with its striking red brick ruins.
The hill, located just off the Colosseum, was the site of temples and homes of leading citizens during Rome's Republican era, which is traditionally dated from 509 B.C. to 27 B.C. It became the aristocratic quarter during the Roman Empire that followed, when new palaces were built on top of the older homes.
The House of the Griffins is one of those earlier Republican-era homes, and was hidden to the world underground after the Emperor Domitian built his palace on top of it in the first century A.D.
Now for the first time, the general public can virtually visit the House of the Griffins and its newly restored frescoes, including the decoration that gives the home its name: An arched lunette fresco featuring two griffins — the half-eagle, half-lion mythological creatures.
Visitors won't actually walk through the home's intimate rooms, which are only accessible via a perilously steep staircase underground. Rather, visitors above ground will watch as a tour guide wearing a head-mounted smartphone descends into the domus and walks through its rooms, livestreaming the visit and narration.
The live, virtual tour serves multiple purposes: It allows visitors to ''see'' a domus that, because of its underground location, would otherwise be off-limits. And by limiting the number of people in its rooms, the livestreaming protects the delicate frescoes from too much humidity and carbon dioxide.
Project chief Federica Rinaldi said archaeologists don't know much about the family who lived there, but said they were clearly well-off. The level of decoration recalls some of the elegant homes of the era in Pompeii: The frescoes feature richly colored faux marble designs, and floor mosaics of three-dimensional cubes.
