Visitors to Pompeii this Valentine’s Day are in for a treat: the so-called House of the Chaste Lovers will open to the public for one day only before its doors close again for next four years so much-needed structural work can take place. The 1,500 sq. m, two-storey building on one of the ancient Roman city’s busiest shopping streets—the Via dell’Abbondanza—belonged to a baker and doubled as a commercial and residential space. It gets its name from a fresco in the triclinium (dining room) that depicts a pair of lovers sharing a kiss at a banquet. The structural work is part of multi-million euro restoration project at the ancient city, which was destroyed during the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in AD79.
