West Wall

Thomas Staub

Anteroom 17:
W wall: width 0.85 m, max. preserved height 3.60 m. Plaster without any traces of paintings covers most of this wall. Where visible, the lower part of the wall consists of lava-incertum with the reddish mortar. The north-west corner is erected of Sarno stone blocks (dimensions not visible in the lower part), which are chamfered at the corner (0.12 x 0.12 m), up to a height of 2.10 m. Above this height, the first block is a stander (0.40 x 0.80 m), followed by a layer (0.70 x 0.40 m). The upper parts of the wall are reconstructed in modern times. To the north follows the opening towards room 17, ca. 0.80 m wide, and then the lower part of the staircase, see below.
W wall: width 1.40 m, max. preserved height 3.70 m. Only the south-west corner has preserved some rests of plaster, which in parts are still covered by the volcanic material from the AD 79 outbreak. Up to 2.80 m height, the wall consists of lava-incertum in the reddish mortar, in the lower part (max. 1.20 m height) mixed with Sarno stone rubble. In 2.80 m height, a straight horizontal line separates the upper, modern part of the wall from the original parts. It might also be a modern reconstruction of the original position of the floor of the upper storey.