In the evocative and welcoming setting of the Domus, among Roman walls and Renaissance vaults, it is possible to take part throughout the year in buffet tastings, lunches and dinners based on menus and recipes of the Roman era. In the Calix (chalice) you can savour the Idromele or aquamulsa, an alcoholic drink produced by the fermentation of honey… or try the Libum, the Bread of the Gods, a flatbread of spelt flour baked on bay leaves.
The House of the Child on the Dolphin, Domus Romana of the 1st century B.C., is an archaeological site, a true house-museum discovered in 2012 during renovation works in the basement of Palazzo Orsucci in the centre of the city of Lucca.
It preserves masonry structures and finds over 2000 years old: as well as bringing to light an important page in the History of Roman-era Lucca dating back to the 1st century B.C., it also presents significant architectural evidence from the Lombard, medieval and Renaissance periods.
Here one can admire the evolution of building techniques over the course of history. Objects of daily life and of votive character have been found: among the most valuable are a bronze fibula of the Augustan age, a sestertius minted by the emperor Tiberius in 14 A.D. and a terracotta frieze from which the Domus itself takes its name, depicting two putti riding two dolphins towards the head of a gorgon.
But it does not end here.
All that remains is to savour these delicacies of ancient Rome.