Domus Aurea Highlights 2024 - 2025

The Domus Aurea opens its doors to visitors on the third Thursday of every month for a series of in-depth thematic guided tours.

Participants are guided to discover new itineraries that show Nero's palace in a different light.

Program:

Visit to the construction site
January 16, 2025, 5:00 p.m.
On the occasion of the reopening of the western sector of the Domus Aurea, a visit to the construction site is proposed to illustrate the restoration and safety work on the monument.
The challenges that such a peculiar archaeological site poses to the professionals who deal with it will be addressed, both from the point of view of protection and from that of enhancement and use by the public.
Maximum number of participants: 23
Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Writing like a Roman
February 20, 2025, 5:00 PM
The art of writing has always retained great fascination over time, as have the techniques and media used in Roman times.
The proposed activity is divided into two parts: a short guided tour and a workshop designed for adults. During the practical activity, participants will be able to try their hand at Latin writing with a stylus and wax tablet.
Maximum number of participants: 10
Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes

The Domus Aurea and its colors: from pigment to fresco
March 20, 2025, 5:00 p.m.
The proposed itinerary aims to present to the public the frescoes created by Fabullus and his workers.
In addition to illustrating the decorative apparatus, including the famous grotesques that have so influenced the history of art, the painting techniques and raw materials used will be explained.
At the end of the visit, the main pigments used in antiquity will be shown.
Maximum number of participants: 15
Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Myth in Nero's Palace
April 17, 2025, 5:00 PM
Myth has played a leading role in the figurative arts over the centuries.
Mythological scenes are also represented in the Domus Aurea: the proposed itinerary intends to focus on these representations, also shedding light on the diffusion of myths of Greek origin in Rome.
Maximum number of participants: 23
Duration: 1 hour

Art and Muses in Domus Aurea
June 19, 2025, 5:00 PM
It is known that Nero was an art lover, the construction of his palace itself goes beyond the creation of a residential structure, showing particular attention to the natural lighting of the rooms.
Light played a fundamental role in the building, the maximum expression of the work of the two magistri et machinatores Severus and Celer, and framed Nero's collection of works of art.
These themes will be at the center of the visit itinerary.
Maximum number of participants: 23
Duration: 1 hour

Walking in Domus Aurea, the life of a monument
September 18 – December 18, 2025

Four in-depth meetings on the life of the Domus Aurea traveled backwards in time, from the most recent past to the late Republican age.

– “I know comrade Paolo”. The Twentieth Century in Domus Aurea – September 18, 2025, 5:00 pm
After centuries of oblivion, Nero’s palace regains its place in history and is also involved in the war and political events of the twentieth century.
This itinerary aims to show a Domus Aurea in a different light, highlighting the traces of the recent past still visible among the remains of the ancient palace.

– Colle Oppio in Late Antiquity – October 16, 2025, 5:00 pm
Starting from the reign of Trajan, the Domus Aurea disappears from the city’s skyline. Nero is forgotten along with his palace and the Colle Oppio changes its appearance.
Its evolution continues in the late antiquity period when the spread of Christianity shapes new scenarios.
The itinerary aims to show this new face of Rome, focusing on the transition from pagan to Christian space and therefore having the places of worship as its main focus.

– The Domus Aurea from Nero to Trajan – November 20, 2025, 5:00 p.m.
The project of a visionary emperor, its realization and the changes that occurred after Nero's death.
The aim of this meeting will be to investigate the construction and fate of the Domus Aurea in the period from the end of the Julio-Claudian dynasty to the construction of Trajan's baths.

– Colle Oppio before Nero – December 18, 2025, 5:00 pm
It is well known that the Domus Aurea was built on the ashes of the great fire of 64 AD, so we know what happened during Nero’s reign, but what preceded the last emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty is less known.
The tour focuses on the buildings of Colle Oppio that preceded Nero’s great construction.

Maximum number of participants: 23
Duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes

Photo credits: official poster of the event