Domus Aurea

Nero's vast underground pleasure palace beneath the Colle Oppio

Address Via della Domus Aurea, 00184 Rome
Admission €12 plus booking fee
Opening Hours Sat–Sun 09:00–16:00 (guided tours only; book ahead)

The partially excavated ruins of Nero's legendary Golden House, an enormous pleasure palace built after the fire of 64 AD. After Nero's death, the building was systematically buried and built over — the Colosseum stands on what was Nero's artificial lake. What remains today are the subterranean rooms of one wing, covering about five hectares, with fragmentary frescoes visible throughout.

Visits are guided tours only, typically running on weekends. The excavations are ongoing and the site feels genuinely archaeological — half-unearthed columns, roof collapses, original floor mosaics. One of Rome's more unusual experiences precisely because it is still being uncovered. Book ahead.

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A story
After the Great Fire of 64 AD — which Nero almost certainly did not start but was widely blamed for — he seized an enormous swath of central Rome and built his Domus Aurea, a pleasure palace covering up to 100 hectares. After his suicide in 68 AD, the building was stripped and buried under Vespasian's new construction. The famous grotesque painting style — birds, vines, and mythical creatures on white backgrounds — was named after these rooms when Renaissance artists lowered themselves through holes to study them by torchlight.