Posted on 01/05/2016 1:47:07 PM PST by SunkenCiv
An ancient dry cleaner's where ancient Romans brought their tunics to be dyed and washed is among six newly restored buildings in Pompeii to be opened to the public...
The opening of the buildings comes after years of mismanagement and bureaucratic squabbling at the historic site Spectacular brightly coloured frescoes and intricate mosaics were revealed across the walls and floors of almost all of the buildings, some of which were severely damaged by bombing during the Second World War.
But the laundry, painted in a deep red and decorated with frescoes of birds and ornamental vases, was the most highly anticipated of the restorations.
In its day, the Fullonica di Stephanus, as it is officially known, was equipped with large baths for rinsing dirty tunics and stone basis for dyeing fabrics. There was a press for ironing and the laundry kept a supply of urine, which was collected in public urinals and then used to get out tough stains.
Next to the laundry, sat Casa del Criptoportico, a former luxury home with a quadrangular garden which has also been restored. It boasts beautiful mosaics depicting pygmies and four thermal baths decorated with stucco.
An enormous covered corridor, known as a cryptoporticus, from which the house derives its name, was built with vast windows to allow light into the next-door sitting room.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Blood and Wine stains extra.................
2000 years to open?? Talk about bureaucratic red tape!
So where do you put the quarters in?
What are those long bench thingies? Tanning booths?
My son (who had not seen my laundry room, which is a multipurpose room where I have a 2nd office) said, “Isn’t red awfully formal for a laundry room?” I’ve been laughing ever since. I didn’t even know he knew the meaning of “formal”, let alone anything about decorating. I guess his wife has civilized him more than I was ever able to do! LOL
Where’s the change machine??
this is starting to remind me of the Mike Judge show “Silicon Valley”....
got to see it hysterical
Whoops wrong thread
Me too. Was it Tony Robinson in “The Worst Jobs in History” series? They also used old urine for tanning leather.
Stupid headline.
If the public was utilizing the business 2000 years ago, then this in 2016 is not the first time it is “open to the public.” Repurposed now, but still not the first time.
Unfortunately the machines only take denarii?
SC, do you know if any Roman cloth has ever been found?
Slaves. Lots and lots of slaves.
bump
That’s brilliant satire!
I read something about the per capita amount of alcohol of all kinds that colonial Americans drank, and it made my liver recoil in absolute terror! They sound like they must have been three sheets to the wind all the time!
Geez...it is making my stomach turn just thinking of it!
“Bloody splitters!”
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