The lavish Roman palace built by Nero after the Great Fire of 64 AD was the Domus Aurea, or “Golden House.”
Nero began the palace complex after the fire devastated large parts of Rome in July 64 AD. It was not a single conventional residence but an enormous imperial estate extending across parts of the Palatine, Esquiline, and Caelian hills. Ancient accounts describe gardens, pavilions, baths, artificial landscapes, and richly decorated rooms.
The complex became notorious because its construction appropriated land in the heart of Rome. Nero’s successor, Vespasian, reversed much of this policy: the artificial lake was drained and the Colosseum was built nearby on part of the former palace grounds. Titus and Trajan also altered or covered sections of the complex.
The Domus Aurea is especially famous for its painted interiors, including elaborate ornamental designs later called “grotesques.” It is commonly confused with Nero’s earlier Domus Transitoria, which the Great Fire damaged or destroyed.