Pompeii
See more Archaeological Sites. Near to Naples (23.10 km) in Italy.
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If you don’t know of Pompeii you should go to great lengths to find out about it, and there are many ways of doing so, the BBC has made an excellent series, there are several great books or you can visit, but find out about it before you do. Covered under layers of volcanic ash, Pompeii and its residents were preserved, just as they were in August 79AD, on the day that Vesuvius erupted. Excavation in the mid 18th Century dug back through the layers until the cobbled Roman streets of 79AD were again exposed, but below then there are several other layers of volcanic ash, so this wasn’t the first time Pompeii had been coated in ash or damaged by volcanic landslides. The magic of Pompeii is in its state, so well preserved, with forum, amphitheatre, theatres, baths, houses, stores and brothel. It becomes clear that these lives were not lived as differently to our own as we may think, there is graffiti carved into the walls, fountains fed by aqueduct and even a municipal swimming pool. Frescos and paintings reveal more of the story, depicting images of people at work, play and prayer, many of them more racy than we'd display publically today. Pompeii was a holiday destination then as well, a large ancient hotel has been uncovered. Estimates suggest there would have been up to 20,000 people in Pompeii at the time of the eruption. Earliest attempts at excavation discovered gaps in the ash where people had decomposed and plaster was injected into them to capture these people’s final poses, this was as early as 1860, and you can see the terror on some of the faces. Resin was used for later human casts, and there are some of each still on display in Pompeii itself. On the so called ‘Grand Tour’ or Europe, Pompeii in its current state has been attracting many visitors for decades. Excavation has stopped to preserve what remains and many of the buildings that were open earlier in the 20th Century and before are now closed, but there is still much to see. Local authorities try and herd visitors to the remains of Herculaneum to take some of the traffic of Pompeii, but though it is worth visiting, it is worth visiting also, not instead of. Walking the streets invokes a lot of thoughts and emotions and it's an important experience for anyone interested in history.
Review by expert member ‘The Pompeii Excavation’The city is so well preserved that the hum of a normal day’s activity seems to echo in the stone streets ... Read more » 4 / 5 Review by press. ‘Archaeological Areas of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata’'When Vesuvius erupted on 24 August AD 79, it engulfed the two flourishing Roman towns of Pompei ... Read more » 4 / 5 Review by press. ‘Pompeii’Pompeii and the other towns buried in the 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius constitute the best preserved ancient Roman ruins in the world by far. Some of the best ... Read more »
5 / 5
Review by expert member Have you been here? Why not add your own review. |
Photo by flickr user degreezero2000
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