KITCHENS AND DINING ROOMS AT POMPEII ... - Get a Free Blog

13. I.4.27, Popina, lunch-counter (Figs. 2.3, 2.18, 5.2, 5.14, 5.46)
Synopsis
This eating establishment exploits the street corner. A tile-topped L-shaped counter
fronts the Via dell'Abbondanza; two jars are immured in the counter on the W side, in line with a
burner for a HE of sub-type (4) built into the end of the counter (Figs. 2.18, 5.46). At the back of
this main room is a staircase to an upper floor, under which is a latrine (a) (Fig. 2.18). A small
room (b) lies to the S of the flight of stairs, with a window in the E wall onto the street. A pair of
painted gladiators engaged in combat were reported from the building, perhaps located on the E
wall behind the counter where traces of paint still remain.
References
CTP IIIA, 8-9; Schefold 1957, 17; Sogliano 1879, 218, #667; Fiorelli 1875, 68; Fiorelli 1873, 69.
Data
A) Total area: 45.7 Nodes: 29.4 Connectors: 5.4 Static spaces: 12.7
B) Total # spaces: 4 # Nodes: 1 # Connectors: 1 # Static spaces: 2
C) Area, HE: 2.5
14. I.6.1, Officina, (work)shop (Figs. 2.4, 5.3, 5.15, 5.47)
Synopsis
This small workshop had a rectangular HE (no longer extant) consisting of a single "-
shaped burner near the center of the front room (1). In the W wall of the same room, near the HE,
was a rectangular niche with a stuccoed interior, painted with leaves and fruit; this was probably
a shrine. In the SE corner of the same room, stairs led N along the wall, over the ruins of two
basins; traces of a third basin were identified in the SW corner, all evidence for some former
function of the building. Two back rooms open off (1) (Fig. 5.47). To the W, room (2) has a
furniture niche in the S end of the W wall, of a size suitable for a bed. Room (3) has a long
masonry bench along its E wall, topped with tile. At the S end of the bench, a chimney built of
stacked amphora necks relieved the room of fumes created by the fires started on the counter. A
latrine occupied the small space to the S under the stairway to the upper floor of the adjacent
house (I.6.2). Numerous iron and bronze implements and tools were found, especially in room
(3), including an iron anvil and hammer. This evidence led to its identification as a blacksmithy.
The presence of a likely bedroom in (2) and more upper floor space indicates furthermore that the
proprietors lived in the same space. The residents may have cooked either at the hearth in room
(1) under the gaze of household gods in the niche, or upon the bench used for working metal in
room (3). There is no evidence for where they may have eaten.
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