Nero's Royal Palace on the Palatine Opens to Public After Decade-Long Restoration

Nero's royal palace on the Palatine Hill in Rome has opened to the public for the first time after a ten-year restoration. Originally built before the Great Fire of 64 AD as the Domus Transitoria, the palace was later rediscovered by the Farnese family, who mistakenly identified it as the Baths of Livia and removed many artifacts and frescoes to Parma. Scientific conservation began in the early 20th century under scholar Giacomo Boni. The site now features original elements including a nymphaeum with a fountain, a triclinium with porphyry columns and polychrome marble pillars, two rooms with frescoes and stucco, and a latrine with garden-style wall paintings. The most striking feature is the floor of the large three-nave hall under the Casina Farnese. Three multimedia installations use virtual reality to reconstruct the triclinium and nymphaeum. The Palatine Museum has also received three friezes and some panels from the Farnese collection on loan from the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, possibly by the painter Famulus or Fabullus, who decorated the Domus Aurea. The director of the archaeological park, Alfonsina Russo, stated that the opening is part of a program to restore inaccessible areas and will create a Neronian itinerary from Colle Oppio to the Palatine.