Getty Villa Reopens 6 Months After Destructive Palisades Fire

PACIFIC PALISADES, CA — The Getty Villa is set to reopen Friday, six months after closing amid the destruction of the Palisades Fire.

The museum was not one of the 5,000 buildings nearby destroyed in the fire; it sustained no major damage. Over a dozen staffers stayed behind after the destructive fire broke out, in part relying on a 50,000-pound water tank to help defend the museum and its priceless artworks, ABC 7 reported.

Though the museum still stands, the signs of the fire's destruction remain on the 65-acre property — and a sign of just how close the fire got to the museum.

Eucalyptus trees have been intentionally pruned down to their blackened stumps. Some 1,400 trees burned. Rosemary that decorated the concrete ledges around the museum burned away. And the melted PVC pipe of the museum's irrigation system has been removed, the New York Times reported in an article that includes photos and a full rundown of the museum's recovery from the fire.

The Villa's limited hours will be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Fridays through Mondays, which is intended to also reduce the amount of weekday traffic on Pacific Coast Highway.

To mark the reopening, the Villa will showcase its newest exhibition, "The Kingdom of Pylos: Warrior-Princes of Ancient Greece," on view through Jan. 12. The previous exhibition of "Ancient Thrace and the Classical World: Treasures from Bulgaria, Romania, and Greece" was forced to close during the fire. It will reopen as a virtual tour.

Additionally, the Villa will create programming focused on "The Kingdom of Pylos." Its next outdoor theater production, "Oedipus the King, Mama!" will open in September.

"While work to rebuild the local community continues, I hope the Villa provides some respite and a place for people to reconnect with art and with each other," Katherine E. Fleming, president and CEO of the J. Paul Getty Trust, said in a statement.

City News Service contributed to this report.