Domus Romana di Colle Montescupolo

On the slope of Colle Montescupolo, excavations uncovered a Roman house built around an atrium and central impluvium. Its walls preserve geometric and vegetal paintings associated with the Fourth Pompeian Style, and the remains show how the house developed within Canusium’s ancient landscape.

Why it matters

The domus adds a domestic dimension to the archaeology of Canosa. Dated to the first century AD and associated with the Augustan age, it follows an Italic atrium plan. Its construction and successive extensions record how Roman domestic architecture adapted to the steep slope and to the adjoining artisan quarter.

What to notice

The house is arranged around a large atrium and central impluvium. Limestone thresholds, opus incertum walls, and floors of signino or beaten earth remain. Geometric and vegetal wall paintings associated with the Fourth Pompeian Style survive without restoration. The building expanded towards the rear until it reached an earlier artisan quarter with small workshops. Above the house, a via cava cut into the hillside has a paved upper stretch and a stepped ramp below.

Context and history

The house expanded towards a pre-existing artisan quarter, while a cut road at the hillside edge connected the residence with its steep setting. Together, these remains place domestic life, workshop activity and movement within the same Roman landscape.