Antiquarium Villa Marittima

If you think the Amalfi Coast is a hot tourist destination now, you should have seen it in the Roman times, when it was a playground for the aristocratic classes from the Capital City. The deep and sheltered inlets all along the Amalfi Coast were favored spots for vacation villas.

You can get a glimpse of Roman taste in architecture and decorations at the Antiquarium Villa Marittima in Minori. The once-grand palace was the seaside home of a wealthy Roman and is typical of the era's construction and style. There is the remains of the "viridarium" private interior courtyard flanked with stone arches. The stately rooms lined one side and there were thermal baths on the other. The museum displays the artifacts found at the site, including items used in daily life, frescoes, mosaic fragments, and coins. The foundational structure of the baths are exposed for viewing.

Villa Marittima was buried under one of the several floods that periodically ravaged the Amalfi Coast. In the ensuing centuries, the locals that built their own houses above the ruins of the villa had used it as storage. The villa was rediscovered in 1874, but the excavations didn't take place until the 1950s.

Villa Marittima is open everyday, from 9 am to one hour before the sunset.

• Phone: 089852893