The Necropolis of Nola Gate lies immediately outside the city’s eastern gate, along the road leading out of Pompeii towards the territories of Nocera and Sarno.
The burial ground preserves a wide variety of remains. Four monumental tombs are known, including two of the schola type, characterised by a semicircular bench that also served as a place to commemorate the deceased.
The best-preserved schola tomb belonged to Aesquilia Polla, who died at the age of just twenty-two and whose husband had the monument erected for her. Another tomb of the same type probably belonged to a priestess of Ceres, as suggested by the symbols depicted on the monument.
A funerary enclosure preserves the name of Marcus Obellius Firmus, an important Pompeian magistrate who owned a large house not far from Nola Gate. Fifteen victims of the eruption were also found in this area.
Near the walls were the graves of four Praetorian Guards, members of the military corps responsible for protecting the emperor. Their graves were marked by inscribed cippi. Alongside the more prominent monuments, archaeologists have also identified cinerary urns from much more modest burials, revealing the social diversity of the Pompeian community.
The main excavations of the necropolis took place in 1907–1908 and again in 1978.
View this location on the Pompeii Buildings and Places map