Herculaneum: House of Argos

 As we neared the old beach at Herculaneum, where the exit now exists, we came upon a large residence on the right called the House of Argos, or Casa d'Argos in Italian. This is what it looks like as we approached.

 This is a very large garden area. From the size of the area and the proximity to the coast, it is obvious that an extremely wealthy person owned this estate. I have also read that a two story house was a part of the estate, thought I did not see that portion.

 The columns that border the garden are massive and certainly successfully relay the message that the estate was owned by a person of power.

 Turning the camera to the right from the above shot, this is the view down the shorter side of the garden.

 And here is Mr and Mrs Yours Truly. If you've been keeping tabs, you're probably aware that we are looking more and more exhausted with each photo. There is good reason for that - WE ARE!

 Who can resist one more shot of the garden?

 The edge of the excavated area of Herculaneum rises behind the far side of the garden....but it looks like there is a doorway there.

 Closer inspection reveals that yes indeed, there is a doorway there. Unfortunately, we are barred from entering.

 Amazingly, there is very little information about this estate, either online or in the books I have. I don't know why, but I could not find anything concrete about what was found here, what the owner did, or even when it was excavated. Some writers appeared to confuse this with the Villa of the Papyri, a much larger estate just a few hundred feet up the coast (closed to the public at this time).

 I have not been able to determine what this structure is, or even if it is a part of the estate. I kind of hate to leave Herculaneum with a post with extremely limited information such as this, but I have no choice. If I find more info later, I'll update this post.

 Attempting to approach that structure, I could not resist the urge to photograph the lovely flowers. Note the edge of the excavation rising in the background.

 Roughly the same area....

 Reconstructed? I would imagine, but probably using original materials.

And as we headed out along the garden again, I caught this beautiful glimpse of Nikki.