Domus Aurea

A monumental exercise in vanity, the Domus Aurea (Golden House) was Nero’s great gift to himself. Built after the fire of AD 64 and named after the gold that covered its façade, it was a huge palace complex covering much of the Palatino (Palatine), Oppio (Oppian) and Celio (Caelian) hills. Its grounds, which included an artificial lake, covered up to a third of the city. It’s estimated only around 20% remains of the original complex – Nero’s successors attempted to raze all trace of his megalomania. Vespasian drained the lake and built the Colosseum, Domitian built a palace on the Palatino, and Trajan constructed a baths complex on the Oppio using the Domus Aurea as a foundation. This is the area that is currently being excavated. The baths and underlying ruins were abandoned by the 6th century. During the Renaissance, artists (including Ghirlandaio, Perugino and Raphael) lowered themselves into the ruins in order to study the frescoed grottoes and to doodle on the walls. All of them later used motifs from the Domus Aurea frescoes in their work.