Ancient Greenhouses

Pompeii

• Pompeii, near Naples in Italy, is one of the earliest found instances of greenhouse structure. Underneath the ashes from the destructive volcano, archaeologists found a building they presumed to be a heated greenhouse, according to G. Stanhill and Herbert Z. Enoch's "Greenhouse Ecosystems." The building featured a stove and "tiers of masonry" on which pots could be placed. This means that ancient people had the capability to create greenhouses before the eruption in 79 AD.

Ancient Rome

• Archaeologists digging around ancient Rome, not far geographically from Pompeii but chronologically much farther apart, have also uncovered evidence of greenhouse structures. The Romans, with their advanced systems of roads an aqueducts, also were advanced agriculturally. Some ancient Roman greenhouses were pits covered by large slabs. Others comprised carts of plants that were wheeled into the open sun during the day and then placed under frames covered with oiled tarps.

What the Romans Grew

• Known for their wine making and drinking, ancient Romans had greenhouses dedicated solely to growing grapes. Some say they had whole greenhouses for peach growing. According to Craig Baird's "The Complete Guide to Building Your Own Greenhouse," Tiberus, a Roman emperor enjoyed cucumbers so much he wanted to eat them daily. This meant that Roman gardeners had to find a way to keep the emperor in constant supply of cucumbers.

Renaissance Greenhouses

• From the pits and frames covered with oiled tarps, people who lived during the Renaissance evolved the greenhouses to glass-walled buildings. Sometimes these buildings were built on a large scale. One greenhouse, built by Solomon de Cans in Heidelberg, Germany, around 1619 housed more than four hundred orange trees. These early greenhouses were heated by furnaces. Glass ceilings were not part of greenhouse buildings until 1717.