Italian archaeologists, while carrying out excavations on the territory of the ancient city of Pompeii, which is now the archaeological park of the same name, discovered a building with an unusual room. It is covered in elegant and perfectly preserved frescoes, predominantly in sky blue.
The discovery is reported on the Pompeii Archaeological Park website. Investigators discovered a room with frescoed walls of an unusual sky blue color. This may indicate the importance of the room found.
Researchers note that the color sky blue is very rare in Pompeii, although many different frescoes have previously been found in this city. Additionally, the “blue room” images are distinguished by their fine ornamentation, fine architectural details and mythological characters.
“Against a blue background, the women pose gracefully, their clothes fluttering in the wind,” the description continues. “Four women represent the seasons. Two of them are allegories of agriculture and livestock: the first is indicated by a plow, the second. for a pedum, a short staff used by shepherds.”
Archaeologists suggest that the room found could be a tabernacle, that is, an untrodden sacred space intended for ritual ceremonies and storage of sacred objects. This was widely practiced in Ancient Rome. Sacraria were established both in churches and in homes.
In this case, niches painted with bright red cinnabar were found on each wall of the room. According to one version, sacred objects, for example religious statues, could be kept there.
However, it is unlikely that the sacrament found was used for religious purposes and, if it was used, it was for a very short time. Archaeologists have discovered that the house was under construction when Pompeii was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
“At that time the house was still under construction and the beautiful “blue room” was probably used as temporary storage,” say the archaeologists. “Fifteen amphorae were found near one of the walls that served as containers for transportation. Various materials.”
Two bronze jugs, lamps and building materials were also found here. At the threshold, archaeologists found a large pile of oyster shells. But it turned out that these were not the remains of a luxurious feast, but only raw materials: the shells were planned to be crushed and added to the mortar.
