House of the surgeon

The Casa del Chirurgo is a Roman townhouse in Pompeii buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Its name comes from the remarkable discovery of over 40 bronze surgical instruments unearthed in 1770 by architect Francesco La Vega during one of the site's earliest systematic excavations — scalpels, hooks, and dilators that reveal Roman medicine operating at a surprisingly sophisticated level. The house follows the classic Roman layout of atrium and tablinum and contains some of Pompeii's oldest surviving masonry, dating to the 3rd century BC. Designated an Italian national monument and part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Pompeii, it is accessible today through the broader archaeological park.