| Ruins of Pompeii |
Pompeii archaelogical site
If
you are visiting Naples it is a must to spend at least one day at
the archaeological park of Pompeii which
is 23
km southeast of Naples,
at the southeastern
base of Mount
Vesuvius.
Pompeii
is one of the most significant archaeological
sites
not only in Campania, or in Italy but in the whole world. Visitors
from all over the world come to admire the city, which froze in time
after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, and to "travel" back to antiquity to learn the history of a Roman
city.
| Mount Vesuvius |
Pompeii,
Herculaneum
and the surrounding villas
were
buried under 4 to 6 m of volcanic
ash, dust
and rocks
in
the eruption
of Vesuvius on October 24 in 79 AD. Though most of Pompeii's
residents left,
2,000 stayed behind and
unfortunately
they were
buried
such
as the
whole
city
under the
volcanic
debris.
| A two store house |
Laundry of Stephanus, a vat for washing |
The
archaeological park is a huge area around 440,000 sq m at
an excellent preservation,
with
streets,
public
squares and
buildings,
houses
and
private villas,
temples, theaters,
public
baths,
more
than 40 bakeries, 130 bars, restaurants, brothels and entertainment
venues.
It was a wealthy port of 10,000 to 20,000 residents at the time it
was destroyed.
Ancient Roman amphoras in Pompeii |
| Thermopolium of Vetutius Placidus. Pompeii, 1st century AD |
VII.5.24 Pompeii, Caldarium (39),
looking south to marble basin (41) with roof light |
After
the eruption, people from nearby towns tried in vain to find the
buried city and its location remained a mystery for more than
1,500 years. In
1599, Pompeii was accidentally rediscovered during construction of a
canal.
| Villa dei Misteri, villa of the Mysteries |
| Villa dei Misteri, Fresco of Dionysus with a satyr and dancing maenads. |
Major
excavations began in 1748 under King
of Naples Charles III of Bourbon,
who was interested only for the fame that the project could bring to the royal house. The excavations
did not become with scientific or systematic
methods and
were
stopped almost completely.
A monumental sculpture by Polish artist Igor Mitoraj, entitled "Daedalus", is in Pompeii as a gift to Italy |
| House of the Faun |
Excavation
works increased during the French occupation at the beginning of the
19th century, and
during
this period came the discovery of the House
of the Faun,
with its excellent mosaic depicting the Battle of Alexander at Issus.
The discovery created such a fuss that archaeological work began
again at the site, this time using scientific methodology, careful
record keeping, and plaster casting.
From
1924 to 1961, work was supervised by the Italian archaeologist Amedeo
Maiuri
and included important discoveries.
| Humans skeletons |
Excavations
at Pompeii experienced a development
in 2018, when new discoveries,
artifacts, frescoes and skeletons were found in
some
unexplored areas
of the city. Because of these new discoveries, Pompeii will be worth visiting again and again and we
can say that Pompeii
is
the
longest excavated site in the world.
| Bronze statue of Centaur by Igor Mitoraj |
Ironically,
the ash that had destroyed Pompeii also made sure its preservation,
leaving it frozen in time. As a result, its ruins offer the best look
anywhere at life in an ancient Roman town, with its gridded street
plan, villas and homes, commercial buildings, public baths, and
colorful frescoes left remarkably intact.
| The Great Theatre of Pompeii |
Of
course, the most compelling scenes in Pompeii are provided by its
residents. While excavating, modern archaeologists detected hollow
spaces in the volcanic debris that were created when victims' bodies
decomposed.
| Molds of the Pompeiians |
The
archaeologists created molds of the Pompeiians who were caught in the
disaster and
filled
in the holes with plaster. The plaster casts show remarkable details, the folds of
clothes, the sandals, the pain and fear on the faces of victims. Signs of animals have also been found, including a saddled-up
horse that appears ready to carry its master to safety.
| Molds of the Pompeiians |
| Molds of the Pompeiians |
Usually
the
visitor needs two
or three
days to explore the area in full but we
suggest you to include to your visit the most famous sites areas, in
a shorter route, so in one day to have an idea
how was the
daily life in
the ancient Roman city.
There is a free map at
the ticket office so you can check the marked names of the sites and
info point at the entrance of the park.
Pompeii archaeological park is
a World Heritage Site
of UNESKO,
and it is said that it
is "the only
archaeological site in the world that provides a complete picture of
an ancient Roman city." It is among the most popular tourist
attractions in Italy, with approximately 2.5 million visitors
annually.
The history of Pompeii
Pompeii was
probably founded by the ancient
Italics Oscans
around the 8th century BC. They
settled on the southern
slopes of Mount Vesuvius along the banks of the Sarno River, which
was navigable at the time. Pompeii became an important commercial
center, an important exporter of olive oil and wine, catching the
interest of the invading Greeks and Etruscans.
| The Odeon (Odeum) of Pompeii |
The
city came under Roman dominance and in 89 BC Publius
Cornelius Silla
took up residency there along with a group of veterans, renaming the
city Colonia Venerea Pompeianorum Sillana. During its Roman period,
the city reached its architectural and economic peak, transforming
into one of the most
popular recreational and resort towns of the Roman aristocracy.
During the Imperial Age, many
wealthy Roman families moved to Pompeii, and buildings like the
Temple of Fortuna Augusta and the Building of Eumachia are testimony
to this arrival. Under the Emperor Nero, the city was seriously
damaged due to a strong earthquake in 62 AD, and rebuilding
immediately began. Work was interrupted on 24 August in 79 AD by the
disastrous eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which buried the city under
volcanic ash.
| Villa Diomede, the largest house of Pompeii |
The meaning of words - Region (Regio) - Insula - Entrance and their numbers at the site
Pompeii has
been divided up into Regions or Regio by the archaeologists, based on
a methodology devised by Fiorelli in the 1860s.
Each Regio
contains a number of Insula (Insula is a block of houses
and shops bounded by roads). There are nine Regio numbered from I to
IX using Roman numerals.
Each Insula
has its individual door entrances numbered. Each Regio has several
Insula numbered from 1 upwards (not in Roman numerals).
There is an exception of this
numbering for tombs, gates, towers, and villas where a shorter number
is used.
Each entrance has a
number from 1 upwards or in a few cases a, b, c etc and sometimes a
combination of the two.
A fourth and final part of the
numbering gives the room number on archive plans.
This gives
a numbering system for each entrance such as IX.2.10 where this
represents the entrance at Regio IX, Insula 2, Door 10.
In some
documents the insula number may be in lower case Roman numerals e. g.
IX.ii.10.
Many movies include scenes of
Pompeii and many documentaries are referring to this archaelogical
park.
| Nicholas Berkeley Mason, Pink Floyd's drummer |
Even
musicians are inspired and the most famous example is the
rock band Pink Floyd.
They filmed a 1971 live
concert, “Pink Floyd
Live at Pompeii”, in
which they performed six songs in the city's ancient Roman
amphitheatre. The audience consisted only of the film's production
crew and some local children.
| The advertisement of the concert, 1971 |
45 years
after the Pink Floyd recordings, guitarist David
Gilmour returned to the
Pompeii amphitheatre in 2016 to perform a live concert for his
“Rattle That Lock
Tour”.
| Pink Floyd at Pompeii |
This event was
considered the first in the amphitheatre to feature an audience since
the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius. Don’t
miss this experience and give at least a day to visit this
magnificent historic area, the archaelogical park of Pompeii!
 |
| Via di Mercurio, view from Torre di Mercurio |
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