pompeii

A black-walled banqueting hall decorated with scenes from Greek mythology, where ancient Romans feasted by candlelight, has been unearthed in Pompeii, the archaeological park said on April 11.

The exceptionally well-preserved frescoes show the god Apollo attempting to seduce Trojan priestess Cassandra, and Helen of Troy meeting Paris, an encounter which would lead to war.

Even the ancient Romans liked their pizza. Archaeologists in Pompeii said on June 27 they had found depicted on an ancient fresco the precursor to the modern-day pizza but without the cheese and tomatoes.

A meticulously reconstructed Pompeii bridal chariot that eluded the ancient city's modern-day looters is a star of an ambitious new exhibition in Rome, which invites viewers to reflect on today's connections with classical Roman and Greek civilizations.

The newly restored remains of an opulent house in Pompeii that likely belonged to two former slaves who became rich through the wine trade offer visitors an exceptional peek at details of domestic life in the doomed Roman city.

Raunchy scenes may redden faces at a new exhibition in Pompeii on art and sexuality in the ancient Roman city, where sculptures and paintings of breasts and buttocks abound.

Archaeologists excavating the city, which was destroyed by the eruption of nearby Vesuvius in 79 A.D., were initially startled to discover erotic images everywhere, from garden statues to ceiling frescos.

Archaeologists in southern Italy have discovered ancient warrior helmets and the ruins of a painted brick wall at a site that might have been a forerunner of a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena, officials said on Feb. 1.

More than 200 ancient coins were returned on Jan. 21 to a museum in southern Italy by a priest who was told about the theft in confession.

The unnamed penitent, presumed to be the thief himself, asked the priest to return the loot to the Paestum archaeological park near Naples.

Vivid frescoes and never-before-seen inscriptions were among the treasures unearthed in a massive years-long restoration of the world-famous archaeological site Pompeii that came to a close Feb. 18.   

Academy award-winning actors Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas embarked on a world tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their marriage, having arrived in Istanbul on Jan. 3 following an Africa journey.