This blog article is written for Venere.com: Pompei Hotels.
Former luxury brothel to become Pompei tourist attraction
The Lupanare, a luxury brothel dating from the ancient times of Pompei, is as of the end of the year 2007 opened to the public. The brothel was only built a couple of years before the eruption of the Vesuvius that destroyed Pompey in 79 AD. This is known since an impression of a 72 AD coin was found in the plaster of one of the walls of the building.
The erotic statues and frescoes that decorate the walls leave little to the imagination and served as a sort of commercial for the services on offer. There also was a price list on the door.
What did the Lupanare look like?
The building consists of two floors, each with five rooms. The upper floor, with a separate entrance and a balcony, was probably meant for the more affluent guests.
The beds in the brothel were made of stone. The walls had the names of the girls written on them, with a description of their specialties and frescoes for those who needed visual support.
Prostitution in the times of the ancient Romans
It is thought that Pompey had rather a lot of brothels, although these often consisted of no more than a single room above a bar or a shop. The Lupanare was probably the only one that was used strictly as a brothel.
The prostitutes themselves were usually slave girls of Greek or Oriental origins and earned nothing from their work.
The ancient Romans were fairly tolerant towards prostitution. Roman women also visited brothels for sex with male prostitutes.
This attitude changed with the times. When excavations in the 18th and 19th centuries unearthed erotic objects, these were straightaway stored safely where no on could see them.
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