While legend has it that the Emperor Nero fiddled while his capital of Rome burned down before him, we do have more tangible evidence of his extravagant behaviors left behind and open to public view again in present-day Rome. The Domus Aurea, or "Golden House", was Nero’s personal response to the great fire of 64 A.D. which destroyed about two-thirds of the city, including many large Roman dwellings. The Emperor ordered the construction of what was the largest imperial residence yet on land covering four districts of the city and designed in the most opulent of fashions. The most important section was a large rectangle at the Oppius hill where the four corner parts covered the four districts. The rooms, halls and corridors of the sprawling villa were lavishly decorated with gold, silver and precious stones. The east wing was intended for public receptions and events, while the west wing served as the personal residence of the Emperor. One of the most notable rooms as you tour Domus Aurea is a circular space which is said to have been a round dining-room, with the floor constructed on a revolving structure designed to imitate the revolutions of the earth itself.

The exterior setting of the Domus Aurea also reflected Nero’s particular mania for all things rural, incorporating such countryside elements as vineyards, orchards, vegetable gardens and parks, pastures and forests with grazing herds and animals wandering in the grounds, at the Caelius, near the Fagutal - the altar in the holy forest at the Esquiline, and at the Oppius. Near the entrance of the Domus Aurea stood a gigantic tribute to Nero, the "Colossus Neronis", a bronze statue of a man of some 37,2 meters, in style like the Colossus of Rhodes. Several emperors’ heads would replace that of Nero’s on the statue before Hadrian had it removed to the Amphitheatrum Flavium. This building in turn took the name Colosseum during the middle ages, thanks to the statue deposited outside it, and the name has remained to the present although the statue has not. The Domus Aurea has undergone a renovation that took some 10 years and is now open to the public, so if you’re in the area of the Colosseum, it is certainly worth the visit. Many of the rooms retain still colorful sections of murals that give a sense of the grandiose style of this early period of the Empire. Guided tours are available in both English and Italian, booking ahead is essential and the premises are closed on Tuesday. There seemed to be a permanent crowd of both Italian and foreign tourists waiting to get in even at 9 o’clock on a chilly February morning when I visited. Domus Aurea is a wonderful addition to have back on the list of ancient sites to reacquaint yourself with when next in Rome.

I had reserved in advance for the Domus Aurea and the Borghese Gallery via Email service (Service@romeguide.it). They charge you a reservation commission and you pay for your actual ticket at the site. Your hotel may also be able to arrange this for you. Advance reservations are recommended; they very occasionally still have slots available right on the spot. Tours are available in English, although my guide's English was very difficult to understand.

After the 64 AD fire, Nero took 200 acres and built a sumptuous palace. Everything about it was intended to symbolize the sun, with which Nero identified himself. The area that later became the Colosseum was a lake reflecting the grandeur of the Golden House. Some surviving sculptures are 2000 years old. phone 06 4815576. Open daily 9am to 8pm. Metro Colosseo. Most of the Domus Aurea is underground and the year-round temperature is about 60 degrees F, so dress accordingly. In nice weather the gardens are lovely and there are benches to sit on.

The Domus Aurea is mostly underground today, and there are only traces of the mosaics and wall paintings that Nero commissioned. Since I didn't get to go to Pompeii as planned on that trip, the Domus at least gave me a small taste of ancient ruins from the same era.

The web site is:
www.romeguide.it/domus_aureaeng/domus_aurea.htm
Email is:
ilsogno@romeguide.it

Reservations are required and you can also book at 011-39-06-4815576 or 3974907. Groups are limited to just 25 people for each of the 45-minute tours; three groups may be going at the same time. Tours are available in English, although when I went our tour guide spoke well-intentioned but incomprehensible English.

A welcome relief from the heat of summer (it's about 60 degrees inside), the cavelike Domus is softly lit to preserve what little is left of Nero's Golden House, once the biggest palace Rome had ever seen. Much has to be left to your imagination (including the grand scale, gold leafed wall, rotating dining room and massive fountains), but the descriptive tape recorded guide will help you manage this. This site is worth visiting if you are a Roman history buff (and a Nero fan). Reservations are required. The easist way to visit is to book a tour through Select Italy (www.selectitaly.com); or when in Rome, call 06-39967600, where you'll hear a recorded message in Italian and English with reservation instructions. The tours (whether guided or audio) last about 1 hour. Groups are limited to just 25 people for each of the 45-minute tours; three groups may be going at the same time.

The Domus Aurea, or Nero's Golden House, was opened for public tours in 1999, after many years of excavation and study. In fact, what you can tour right now is but a fraction of a fraction of Nero's original domicile, which once covered most of downtown Rome. The Roman emperors who succeeded him won lots of points with the citizens by filling in, destroying, or converting his home for public use. Hence, much of it is unrecoverable. Regardless, ALL of it is simply underground, as is the case of most ancient Roman ruins in the city. The historical way of dealing with old structures in this town was to . . . what else? . . . bury them with the rubble of demolished buildings and build new things on top of the pile.

If you'd like to see this bit of ancient life, you must book a reservation in advance. Limited numbers of visitors are let into the site, and people who came to the ticket booth off the street when we were there were told there were no more spots that day (we were there at 11:20am). The ticket is 12,000 lire ($6) and the necessary audio guide (unless you have a privately hired tour guide) is 3000 lire ($1.50). The Italian guide who will lead you through the site will only take you into the rooms of note and tell you which number room it is, and then wait for you to listen to your audio. They will give very little in the way of English information. While we were there, two of the rooms that the audio guide described were off-limits (you must remember that this site is an excavation-in-progress). The entire tour lasts 45 minutes and you are not allowed to lag behind the group or stay past the time when the guide leads you out. Be forewarned that it is COLD underground. You can see in my photo below that the guide at the entrance is wearing a parka. They all were! Take a sweater at least and a jacket if you can. Don't buy the Guide Book from the ticket booth until after you complete the tour, and then see if you still want it. Honestly, from all I'd read in the travel books before we went there, I expected much more. What we found were lots of empty rooms with sketchy bits of murals still visible.

I did learn lots of interesting facts from the audio guide, though, like the term "grotesque" came from the Renaissance artists who would climb through openings to the Domus Aurea where they studied the frescoes and architecture of this "grotto" (they likened it to a cave).

I think this tour would be most interesting to serious students of classical culture, history, and architecture. Probably not of interest to children or teenagers--pretty bare bones type of place.