pompeii

I flew in to Naples to meet Joe for a few days in Sorrento & the Amalfi coast. Top of the agenda was Pompeii - one of those gruesome biblical-like places that I've heard about as a child, and have always wanted to visit. This prosperous Roman town was buried in 25 metres of ash and rock by a sudden eruption of the volcano Mt Vesuvius about two thousand years ago. Much of the town is still well preserved.

Only when we got there did I realise just how big the place actually is! It seems obvious now but not everyday do you visit a tourist attraction that covers an ENTIRE city!  We were literally walking in a ghost town - complete with government buildings, temples, theatres, bathhouses, and an ampitheatre, and lots and lots of streets & houses.

In the streets of Pompeii, every few metres or so there are these huge stepping stones built into the road linking the sidewalks. Pompeii did not having a proper stormwater drainage system, and hence when it rained, the roads would flood - requiring the sidewalks to be raised and connected by these stepping stones.

There are two theatres in town - this is the bigger of the two.

A rather marvelous looking house with some wonderful mosaic tiling...

... including this "beware of the dog" mosaic at the entrance to the house

Yep, that is what you think it is... a penis shrine!

When Pompeii was excavated, the archaeologists found within the depths of hardened volcano ash, these empty voids with human bones in them. These voids were formed when Pompeii's victims, buried in volcano ash, decomposed while the ash hardened around their shape - preserving the victims' forms. One archaeologist had the bright idea of pouring plaster into these voids to create plaster body casts. Some of the casts contain a surprising amount of details - you could see the folds in the fabric of the victim's clothing, and the shape of the sandal on their feet. Creepy!

Can't remember what this building was for, but it has a very nice ceiling.

Wall murals in a rich person's house.

Pompeiiens loved to bathe and there were a few bath-houses in town.

Details of a marble bath.

The wall of the bath-house change room

This is probably a market/shop that sold hot food - the food are cooked and kept warm in those holes in the benches.

Pompeii's ampitheatre

Overlooking Pompeii from the edge of town. My feet were dying by the time we walked from one side of town to the other.

The sun setting near the main area of the town, which contained the government buildings and temples.

I highly recommend going to Pompeii in late autumn/winter - as we did. The temperature was mild and the crowd thin. (I imagine the atmosphere is probably less than "ghost-town-like" during the peak summer season) Comfortable walking shoes are also highly recommended. Also, the novel "Pompeii" by Robert Harris is a good one to get into the feel of the last days of Pompeii.