This _insula_, in which are found an abundance of artisan and commercial spaces, is known principally for the paintings known as the _panettiere_ and the anonymous magistrate of the eponymous house VII, 3, 30, although the _domus_ of _M. Spurius Mesor_ (VII, 3, 29) is hardly less relevant, above all for its facade in _opus quadratum_ of limestone and Nocera tufo: the houses of the infant Herculese (VII, 3, 11-12) or the _taberna_ ‘of the knight’ (VII, 3, 14-15) are also important, the latter known from a stucco relief of a galloping knight. The location of this _insula_ at the crossroads formed by the major roads of the Via Fortuna and the Via Stabiana on the northeast, and the smaller alleys of the _Vicolo Storto_ and _Panettiere_ to the south west, makes it _a priori_ an interesting site for the study of the city plan of pre-imperial Pompeii, both Archaic, Samnite and Republican, the aim of our project. The stratigraphic excavations carried out between 2005 and 2009 have provided important information on the two chronological extremes of the 600-year life of the city, its origins, represented by archaic-period foundations in _pappamonte_, and it s traumatic end, provoked by the famous eruption of AD 79. We are carrying out a global and interdisciplinary study (archaeological, archeometric, topographic, architectonic) on the buildings mentioned above, as well as on VII, 3, 6 (5-7), in which is found a network of hydraulic channels of the Republican period. The atrium of house VII, 3, 13 was under post-seismic restauration when it was buried by the _lapilli_ of the eruption: this is shown by a dozen amphorae, cut in half to hold lime, along with other tools. At the other end of the chronological spectrum we find the _pappamonte_ foundations of the archaic or pre-samnite period, reused in the entrance and atrium of house VII, 3, 12. A similar interpretation applies to the entrance to house VII, 3, 38, where we find the remains of the edge of the earlier street, a line of blocks of tufo, which is used as a foundation for the limestone _opus quadratum_ of the later walls. In any case the orientation coincides with that of the _vicolo Storto_ whose projected alignment is followed by this foundation, suggesting the hypothetical trace of the earlier street. This led us to carry out a control sounding in the southwest corner of the _insula_ (VII, 3, 33-34). The situation was partially compromised by a spectacular late-republican cistern, rich in materials, particularly amphorae and lamps, but we also discovered a portion of the paving of the street, in beaten earth, within which were found fragments of _bucchero nero_ belonging to a hypothetical street of the archaic period, whose stratigraphic position and character make it join the number of the few streets known from this period