A New Tourist Attraction in Pompeii: An Ancient Perfumery Comes to Life After 2,000 Years

The garden boasts 1,200 violets, 800 old-growth rose bushes, grapevines, olive trees, cherry trees, and quince trees, among other plants. The garden's composition was recreated based on the discoveries of botanist Wilhelmina Jashemski from the 1950s. The researcher found plant remains, seeds, and even pollen and spores in the garden.

In addition to the vegetation, the garden's ancient irrigation system, unique to Pompeii, was also rebuilt. It consisted of meandering canals and reservoirs from which water was drawn when certain plants required additional watering.

A terracotta statue of Hercules was also recreated. It was placed right next to the site where an outdoor kitchen had operated two millennia earlier.

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Archaeological excavations at the Garden of Hercules began in the 1950s, when a house consisting of eight rooms and an outdoor kitchen was discovered.

Even then, researchers suspected that a garden must have existed here – the first to be identified were the remains of roses. Further work was carried out in the early 1970s, resulting in the uncovering of the entire complex.