The Surgeon’s House - Rimini

about The Surgeon’s House - Rimini

The Surgeon’s House (Domus del Chirurgo) in Rimini in Italy is an archaeological site known locally as “little Pompeii”.

Spanning an area of over 700 square metres, The Surgeon’s House is a collection of archaeological sites discovered in 1998 and excavated over the course of almost a decade.

This attraction is known as “The Surgeon’s House” due to its main find, the second century AD home of an Ancient Roman doctor by the name of Eutyches. Over 150 medical instruments were found among the ruins (housed in the museum) together with the remains of the building itself, which is thought to have been razed to the ground during an invasion in the third century AD. The Surgeon’s House has some well-preserved and restored mosaic floors.

However, beyond the actual “Surgeon’s House” there are some other historic ruins at this site. One such building is known as the Palace of Late Antiquity and was built sometime after 260 AD. The extensive ruins of this site which include several rooms and a sophisticated heating system indicate that it would have been the lavish home of a lord or “dominus” although it was entirely abandoned by the fifth century.

The displays at the Surgeon’s House also look at the site post the fifth century AD, when it was used as a Christian cemetery. Visitors can even see exposed graves and tombs with the bodies still inside. This was an active cemetery until the seventh century.