Building of Eumachia Travel Guide

The Building of Eumachia stands as a remarkable testament to the economic strength and social influence of women in ancient Pompeii. Constructed between 2 and 3 AD by Eumachia, a priestess of Venus and a successful entrepreneur in the wool and textile industry, this large rectangular building dominates the eastern side of the Forum. Eumachia, the daughter of a wealthy amphora and brick producer, inherited and expanded her family's business acumen. Marrying into an even wealthier family with extensive land and sheep flocks, she established a flourishing wool processing business. The building itself was dedicated to Concordia Augusta and Pietas, reflecting Eumachia's support for the imperial cult and her desire to showcase her family's prominence. The building's architecture is impressive, featuring a large doorway with decorative marble reliefs depicting vegetation. Niches on the facade once held statues celebrating the Imperial House, and a colonnaded porch provided access from the Forum. Inside, the structure comprised a chalcidicum (entrance porch), a large porticus (four-sided colonnade around a courtyard), and a crypta (a large corridor behind the porticus). Statues of Eumachia, the Imperial family, Romulus, and Aeneas once adorned the building. The fullones (workers involved in raw wool processing) honored Eumachia with a statue, which was placed in a niche in the crypt. Although the building's precise function is debated, it likely served as a center for wool production and trade, as well as a space for religious and civic activities.