The large and spectacular seaside villa in the district of Sora is located about 3.6 km southeast of Herculaneum and opened onto the sea with a 150-meter-long frontage. It was part of the system of otium villas mentioned by Strabo, which stretched along the Gulf of Naples and were inhabited by the wealthiest members of the Roman ruling class.The villa was built around the middle of the 1st century BC, but the structures and splendid wall decorations still visible today can be attributed to renovations dating back to the early imperial period. At the time of the eruption in 79 AD, the villa was undergoing restoration, as evidenced by a well-known graffito recording the costs of the work, as well as the piles of lime still visible in some rooms and the floors of precious imported marble slabs that had not yet been completed.The first discoveries in the area date back to the 17th century, when two bronze slabs were found bearing the decrees of the two consuls Cn. Hosidius Geta and L. Vagellius, as well as a marble relief depicting Orpheus, Hermes, and Eurydice, now preserved in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. Between 1797 and 1798, Francesco IV undertook systematic excavations in the villa, bringing to light the central core that developed around a large apsidal hall. The area was then gradually abandoned, and it was not until 1989-1992 that research resumed, directed by the then Archaeological Superintendency of Pompeii.
The excavations explored areas never explored during the Bourbon era to the west and east of the apsidal hall, including several service corridors, reception rooms, and finely decorated bedrooms. Of particular value are the frescoes, now detached, in a bedroom, characterized by large panels in Egyptian blue within red frames with gilded plant motifs, while in the upper area, stylized fantastical architecture unfolds, again on a blue background, which also occupies the ceiling.