Marine Gate (Porta Marino) and Suburban Baths, Pompei

Marine Gate is one of the seven primary gates that allowed access through the city walls and into the centre of Pompeii. Located in a fortified section of the stone walls, it faces toward the sea—hence the name Marine Gate. It is composed of two arches: a smaller arch for people to pass through, and a larger arch for animals such as mules and donkeys.

Just outside Marine Gate, you will find one of the city’s more recently uncovered treasures. Known as the Suburban Baths, this former public bathhouse was fully excavated in the 1980s, more than a century after the Central Baths were unearthed in the city centre. The baths possess a couple of unusual features that have given fresh insight into the social and cultural life of Pompeii.

First, the dressing room is unusual in that it is just that: a single room, without separate changing facilities for men and women. The decorations found there are also remarkable. While erotic artworks have been found in various locations in Pompeii, the walls here feature a large number of highly erotic frescoes, more graphic than those seen elsewhere in the city. This suggests a far more relaxed attitude to sexual imagery than many historians had previously supposed.