Domus Aurea: Secret Roman site with VR

inside the virtual reality chamber at domus aurea in rome with ceiling holes visible

Last Updated on May 3, 2023 by Ellen

Last Updated on May 3, 2023 by Ellen

Few tourists get the opportunity to see Domus Aurea — an active archeological site in Rome. We were lucky we got in. It’s a fabulous place, with a time travel feature through virtual reality.

Archeologists work at the site on weekdays, so this place is only open to tourists on weekends. Advance reservations are mandatory.

Inside Nero’s former pleasure palace

The “Golden Palace” or “Golden House” is the former pleasure palace of Emperor Nero. It features hundreds of rooms set on expansive grounds. Nero had it built after the Roman fires of 64 AD. The palace was abandoned in 69 AD after Nero’s suicide.

Builders stripped the palace of valuable materials for other Roman construction. Then they filled the palace in with earth, and put new buildings on top of the site. Nero’s pleasure palace sat buried for years. This is why some paintings survived centuries – they weren’t exposed to air and moisture.

The palace was discovered by accident when someone fell into a strange cave-like opening with paintings back in the 15th century. Soon after, Italian artists from the Renaissance period lowered themselves into some rooms through ceiling holes. These artists admired the paintings – Michelangelo and Raphael included. They got inspiration from Nero’s palace, and they signed their names on the walls after their visits, like graffiti tags today.

This site is amazing.

The modern tour is with an archeologist who explains the subjects in the paintings, the architectural achievements of the palace, and a bit about the general history of the site. If you know stories from Homer, you might appreciate the art a bit more.

My iPhone 6 photos do not do any justice to reality.

Time travel with virtual reality at Domus Aurea

The tour is enhanced with a virtual reality show that used the Oculus Rift headset. It is thrilling!

The show transforms the present cave-like space into its former Roman glory. It’s really indescribable.

Don’t forget to swivel your body around the square seat to enjoy the 360 view. (And if you wear eyeglasses, put the mask over your glasses and support it with your hand if the mask pushes down on your glasses too much.)

The discoveries about this time period, and about Nero, are vast from this site. He had several architectural advances in addition to fine art: his architects used bricks as a base because it was cheaper and faster to construct the building; they used shiny mosaics on walls and ceilings to reflect more light onto the jewels, pearls, and slabs of marble that were once embedded into the walls.

Famous circular room

Archeologists also discovered what they believe are the remains of the famous circular room Nero built to impress guests. They believe the room rotated day and night to imitate Earth’s movement. Now that was an incredible feat for nearly two thousand years ago – like a Las Vegas restaurant today. You do not see this particular room on the tour, but you can imagine it based on the ruined opulence you do see.

Sadly, our guide (an Italian archeologist) couldn’t direct me to any books in English about the site. The only author she could think of is a scholar whose text books are for study.

Too bad. I’d love to read more about this active archeological site. This is a really special place. The vibe is intense.

Finding this ‘secret’ site

Ironically, the entrance to Domus Aurea is difficult to find, even for veteran world travelers like us!

Tedly read on Trip Advisor some people missed their reservations because they never found it! Those poor fools. Based on their difficulties, we checked out the site the day before our visit. Google maps puts the “Domus Aurea” marker in the middle of the site, which is  far from the entrance. That initially threw us off, like everyone else, but we eventually found entrance.

Note the blue dot, that’s us near the actual entrance, and note where Google marks the site, which is on the Baths of Trajan — different ruins atop part of the Domus Aurea site:

The name of the street you want is Via della Domus Aurea, which runs near Via Labicana. Via della Domus Aurea begins with two pillars you can’t miss. A few steps up that road, you will see a driveway to the left and the entrance is at the end of that driveway.

Book this tour as far in advance as you can.

We booked it about two weeks in advance, at the suggestion of our Italian friend, Vittorio. (Thanks, Vittorio!)

The official website to make your advance reservations for Domus Aurea is here.

I urge you to check that website well in advance of your trip to Rome, because the current schedule might change as work continues.

We saw several people turned away on the day of our visit.

They had not booked online in advance. There is limited space, and tours are given only on Saturdays and Sundays.

There were only about 20 people in our group. The other groups before and after ours looked to be about the same size. This was a far different experience from the sites with thousands of people jostling and positioning around you for selfie shots.

Our tour cost about $20 each.

The adjacent park

After the tour, we walked around on our own in the adjacent park, Parco del Colle Oppio. The Italian government has blocked off areas to help preserve the incredible history of Domus Aurea. There is no end date for the expensive and delicate excavation, reinforcement, and restoration project.

Most of the public park is still used by locals. We saw kids playing, adults having lunch, and we even saw some migrants under trees for the shade. You’ll find a beautiful rose garden, several benches, and open walkways.

Based on the virtual reality show on the tour, it would seem this park area was the front grounds to Nero’s palace.

Just imagine what’s left to discover… the tour only shows you less than one percent of the former complex!

Some areas of the park have great views of the Colosseum, in case you’re looking for a relatively quiet place in Rome with a view for a picnic lunch.

Extra tip: bring a sweater or extra layer to the Domus Aurea tour, because it can get chilly underground – even in hot weather.

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3 thoughts on “Domus Aurea: Secret Roman site with VR”

  1. So glad you did appreciate the visit! With the “plus” of the virtual Domus Aurea, it didn’t exist when, a couple of years ago, we were there. The post, as all of them, is fabulous (and very useful the advice on how to find the concealed entrance)

    1. Thank you Vittorio! Thanks to you, we added this to our itinerary and it turned out to be my absolute favorite archeological site!

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