Pompeii does not only consist of ruins. Fantastic mural paintings still exist today in some houses and villas insofar as they have not been moved to museums. Some of them have a stunning fascination in spite of their age of more than 2000 years. The colourful variety of the pictorial subjects, the detailed richness of the mural paintings and the fascinating colours of the rooms give the visitor a long-lasting impression of joy. As with the romanticists of the 19th century, idyllic fantasies from the Gulf of Naples during the summer are revived with its ancient villas and country properties and recall the associations with Greece and Egypt.

These impressions of joy can fade away very quickly when visiting the same rooms in winter. The damp sadness of the rooms corresponds to the grey clouded sky outside. Rain trickles through the ceiling, collects on the walls and runs down in several streams over the paintings.
If one considers the dimensions of ancient Pompeii as well as the extent of the restoration measures required, one can only admire the commitment of the Soprintendenza Archeologica and its staff.

A very specific site is the "Villa Imperiale". It was excavated and in part reconstructed following the Second World War and has remained closed for visits by the general public ever since then for reasons of security. The preciousness of the paintings and mosaic floors located therein permitted only a few visitors, most of them scholars. Today, however, the very substance of the paintings are endangered, since the reconstructed roof is leaking. A collection of art decorations is thus threatened, which can be compared qualitatively with the paintings in the Palace of Augustus on the Palatine Hill in Rome.

What must be done? The construction of a new roof instead of the old leaking roof. For this reason we are looking for contributions from foundations, banks, companies and individuals who appreciate art, in order to raise an estimated amount of euro 100,000 which is necessary to undertake the project and to start the necessary work.
For this reason a small group of enthusiasts decided in July 2002 to set up this website in order to present the VIMP project to the public and to make known to all the beauty of the wall paintings in the Villa Imperiale. We hope to receive sufficient contributions for the implementation of our project in order to be able to guarantee a permanent conservation of the extremely important Villa Imperiale in cooperation with the archaeologists. The competent authority, the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei, is closely following our project and has assured us of its complete support.