The town, street by street
About 1,100 houses and shops along the streets of the excavation, with the Via dell'Abbondanza, the Via Stabiana and the Via del Foro, paved with basalt blocks.
Instant Pompeii BETA
Walk or race through the Roman streets of Pompeii, with Vesuvius behind.
The streets of the town as the excavation maps them, the Forum with the Temple of Jupiter, the baths and the houses, and the amphitheatre at the east end.
Free · no account · works on PC, tablet and phone
What you can do
The Forum and the amphitheatre
The Forum's two colonnades with the Temple of Jupiter at its end, and the amphitheatre, the oldest stone one there is, are modelled by hand. Vesuvius stands on the horizon where it really is.
A race round the middle of town
A loop of about a kilometre from the Forum along the Via dell'Abbondanza and back by the Via Stabiana and the Via della Fortuna.
On the map
- 1
🏛️ The Forum
The square at the middle of Pompeii, 140 metres long, closed to carts. Temples, the basilica, the market and the offices of the town stood round it, and people came to trade, vote and hear the news.
- 2
⛩️ Temple of Jupiter
The main temple of the town, at the north end of the Forum, built for Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. Vesuvius stands right behind it. An earthquake in AD 62 had already damaged it, and it was still being repaired in AD 79.
- 3
⚖️ The Basilica
The law court and exchange, on the south-west corner of the Forum, about 150 BC. It is the oldest basilica we know of, and one of the biggest buildings in town.
- 4
☀️ Temple of Apollo
The oldest temple in Pompeii, from the 6th century BC, standing in a court with a colonnade of 48 columns. Apollo was the town’s protector. The statues here are copies.
- 5
🪨 Stepping stones
Streets ran with rainwater and rubbish, so there are blocks of lava to cross on. The gaps between them are as wide as a cart’s wheels, and you can still see the ruts the carts cut in the paving.
- 6
🛁 The Stabian Baths
The oldest public baths in Pompeii, with a gymnasium, a swimming pool and rooms of different heat. Most citizens went most days, and the stucco ceilings are still there.
- 7
🏮 The Lupanare
A small two-floor brothel with ten rooms, the best known of the town’s many. Its stone beds and the pictures and graffiti on its walls are still there.
- 8
🗿 House of the Faun
The biggest house in Pompeii, filling a whole block, with two atria and two gardens. A small bronze faun dances in its pool. The huge mosaic of Alexander the Great in battle was found here.
- 9
🎭 The Great Theatre
A Greek-style theatre cut into the hillside in the 2nd century BC, for about 5,000 people. The smaller Odeon beside it was roofed, for concerts and readings.
- 10
⚱️ Garden of the Fugitives
Thirteen people, children among them, died in this garden under the ash. Their bodies rotted away and left hollows in the ash, which had set hard. In 1863 Giuseppe Fiorelli had plaster poured into the hollows, and the casts show the people as they lay. More are in the Forum Granaries.
- 11
🏟️ The Amphitheatre
Built about 70 BC, the oldest stone amphitheatre there is, for some 20,000 people. In AD 59 a fight between the fans of Pompeii and Nuceria here ended in a riot, and Rome shut the arena for ten years.
About Pompeii
- Buried
- 24 August AD 79, under ash and pumice from Vesuvius; dug out from the 1700s on
- Size
- About 66 hectares inside the walls, with some 11,000 people living there
- Amphitheatre
- Built about 70 BC for around 20,000 people, the oldest stone amphitheatre that survives
- In the game
- The streets and houses, the Forum with its colonnades and the Temple of Jupiter, the amphitheatre and Vesuvius
Ready to go?
Play Instant PompeiiStill in development: expect some rough edges.