About

A collaboration between the University of Missouri-Columbia and Mount Allison University, under the auspices of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, to resume study of the Sanctuary of Venus at Pompeii.

The Roman goddess Venus was the patron deity of the city of Pompeii, and her temple occupied a prominent location at the southern edge of the site, overlooking the river plain below. The Venus Pompeiana Project (VPP) is a collaboration between the University of Missouri-Columbia and Mount Allison University, under the auspices of the Pompeii Archaeological Park, to resume study of the Sanctuary of Venus at Pompeii. VPP aims to clarify the results of past excavations (most recently) between 2004 and 2007, which were only partially published, and to follow up on questions raised by that work. VPP’s pilot season, in July 2017, was aimed toward identifying the extent and organization of the first sanctuary, and providing greater resolution on its date.