I have been the to Getty Museum in Los Angeles before with my sisters, but I had not been to the Getty Villa and so Cynthia and I went when I went to see her show in LA. The Getty Villa is the original Getty museum- after visiting all of the European countries and collecting artifacts, Getty decided that he wanted an Italian style villa to showcase all of his antiquities. He initially just had them in his house and showed his other rich friends, but then, the fame of the collection spread and he opened up his house to the public for 2 days a week. But, even that couldn't hold his growing collection so they constructed the Villa. And then the Villa couldn't hold all of the artifacts so they built the Getty Museum to hold most of them. The Getty Villa only holds the ancient antiquities from the Greeks, Romans, Etruscans, Egyptian. But, I think that the Villa itself is even more spectacular than the artifacts.
The Getty Villa is FREE, but you have to reserve tickets online and then parking is $8. The Villa is out near Malibu and so it is quite a lovely drive along the beach. The Villa is on top of a hill with a Roman style road leading to it. Cynthia and I took the orientation tour- which I HIGHLY recommend- where they tell you about the history of the Villa and the logic behind its construction and renovation. They have this feature that I have never seen before where you have an audio headset to listen to your guide. That way, the guide doesn't have to shout and disturb the other guests. What a great idea! I think that they should do that at more museums.
The museum begins with a giant replica Roman amphitheater where they actually hold productions that you can attend.
The whole layout of the space is like an archaeological dig that you, as a museum visitor, are being a part of. They convey this through the construction by having different layers of rock to illustrate the different layers of sediment that you might find when excavating. This wall gives a good illustration of that idea.
This was my favorite part of the Villa- the stunning pool surrounded by colonnades. So beautiful
And then the inner courtyard. Most of the museum is in the upper levels of the Villa.
If my description doesn't convince you to visit the Villa, hopefully, this slide show of pictures will.
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