Stabiae was restored whilst that of Pompeii had been destroyed. In the 2nd c. AD new necropoleis were created at Grotta S.Biagio (below the Villa Arianna), Santa Maria la Carità and Pimonte. After the Crisis of the Third Century the city decreased in importance. Between the third and fourth centuries, as demonstrated by the discovery of a sarcophagus were the first traces of a Christian community. The fifth century saw the formation of the diocese with the first bishops Orso and Catello. In the 5th century it was known as a centre of the Benedictine Order. Archaeology The archaeological remains at Stabiae were originally discovered in 1749 by Cavaliere Rocco de Alcubierre, an engineer working for king Charles VII of Naples. These ruins were partially excavated by Alcubierre with help from Karl Weber between 1749–1775. Weber was the first to make detailed architectural drawings and delivered them to the court of Naples. He proposed the systematic unearthing of the buildings and their display on site, in their context. In 1759 Weber partially identified and described part of the old city that extended over an area of about 45000 m2. The ruins that had been excavated, however, were reburied. A second excavation campaign until 1782 was assisted by the architect Franceso La Vega after Weber's death. He diligently collected all the preceding material to reconstruct the history of the excavations. He introduced new concepts for the first time about context, emphasising direct observation of ancient buildings in their landscape or in their historical and archaeological complex. In seven years at Stabiae La Vega resumed excavations in some villas already partially excavated, the Villa del Pastore, Villa Arianna and Second Complex and extended research to a large number of villae rusticae in the ager stabianus and made precise reports. However he could not persuade the court to keep excavated buildings exposed and avoid their backfilling, so excavation of Stabiae continued with the usual technique of digging and backfilling. The location of Stabiae was again widely forgotten. In 1950 when Libero D'Orsi, an enthusiastic amateur, brought to light some rooms of Villa San Marco and Villa Arianna with the help of the maps from the Bourbon excavations, and also Villa Petraro, a domus found by chance in 1957 but then reburied after a few years of study. He also found parts of a residential area of the city about 300 m from Villa