Photos

The Getty villa was first opened in 1974 as the second museum; the first was at his home, on the same property, where he showed his vast art collection to visitors a few days a week. He then decided to build a reconstruction of the Villa of the Papyri, an immense estate near Herculaneum in Italy, which was destroyed during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. The villa was closed in 1997 for renovation and only re-opened in Jan. of 2006. It now houses an impressive collection of Greek, Etruscan and Roman antiquities, and also serves as an educational center and library for researchers around the world. There's some controversy surrounding it, however, as the Greek and Italian governments claim that many of the pieces were illegally looted and should be returned. The villa is gorgegous, however, and is definitely worth a visit, both to see the collection and the architecture!