The Tamesis
In an effort to attract tourists to relatively low-traffic areas of Rome’s top tourist destinations, the city is offering live-streamed tours of ancient Roman homes that have never been open to the public before. The House of the Gryphon is located near the top of the Palatine Hill, adjacent to the Forum and the Colosseum; these three parts make up the Colosseum Archaeological Park.
Gryphon House dates back to the 2nd to 1st century BC and was discovered in the 19th century. Two floors of the original residence survive, with an atrium and swimming pool on the ground floor and several well-preserved and beautifully decorated rooms on the ground floor. The walls are covered with frescoes and mosaics and feature two white stucco griffins, which give the residence its name. Eventually a palace was built on top of the house, which buried it for centuries.
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According to reports, starting on March 3, after several years of restoration to improve the structural integrity, protect the murals and install lighting equipment art networkvisitors will be able to watch a live video tour of the Gryphon House. They will gather in a space near their homes, while Colosseum Archaeological Park guides with head-mounted cameras will explore the underground structures and provide explanations (in English or Italian, depending on the tour group).
according to Associated Pressthe tour will start on Tuesday, with a maximum of 12 people per group.
The project is part of Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan, an EU project aimed at supporting culture and tourism through technological improvements. House of the Gryphon is the second project (out of 10 in total) completed as part of Italia Domani (“Italy of Tomorrow”), as the program is called.
