Griffin House opens with innovative live streaming method

The House of the Gryphon, one of the most important grand residences to survive from the Republican era on Rome’s Palatine Hill, has been opened to the public via live video broadcast for the first time since its discovery more than a century ago. Visitors will remain in the atrium while camera-equipped tour guides will descend into the rooms below. Live video and audio will be played on state-of-the-art micro-perforated mesh coverings on the walls.

It was discovered in 1912 by archaeologist Giacomo Boni, who was in charge of the excavations of the Roman Forum. The house is named after a particularly striking decorative accent in the semicircular lunette on the wall: two white stucco griffons facing each other against a rich red background. The image is derived from Greek mythology and conveys the education and wealth of the owner. The frescoes on the walls are among the most exquisite surviving examples of late republican decoration, featuring architectural illusions of colonnades, pilasters and marble inlays. A mosaic floor is an area of ​​black and white tiles with multi-colored panels in three-dimensional shapes in marble tiles.

The building was built between the late 2nd and mid-1st century BC and is one of the oldest republican-era buildings in the Palatine area. Its top floors were destroyed by new construction in the Augustan era, and today only the ground floor with the remains of the atrium and the underground floors below survive. The vividly colored frescoed walls and mosaic floors remained intact, even after the massive foundations of the Flavian palace built by Domitian intersected and dismantled the original structure. This is because the builders simply filled the remaining space with soil as a support for the palace, preserving the exquisite decoration of the palace.

The remains of Gryphon House thus provide a unique synopsis of three centuries of architecture, art, transformation and neglect. However, the structure was damaged in ancient times and there are gaps and fallen plaster in the walls and mosaic floors of varying heights. The underground level is only accessible by dangerously steep stairs. As a result, the building has fragile and complex conservation needs that make opening it to visitors both challenging and very attractive.

A comprehensive scientific restoration and stabilization project was completed in December 2024 and included the injection of lime mortar into the walls, restoration of painted surfaces, strengthening of the wooden structure, laser cleaning to remove deposits from the frescoes and figurative plaster, detailed 3D photogrammetry and scientific studies of the decoration and structure. New lighting and audio-visual systems were installed to enhance the on-site guided tour experience.

This innovative approach makes the residence accessible to everyone without subjecting the fragile environment to traffic stress. Starting March 3, 2026, tours will take place every Tuesday. Tickets can be purchased from February 3 this Website of the Colosseum Archaeological Park.