ITALY: POMPEII

 March 15, 2024

One of the reasons we started our trip in Naples was because we wanted to visit the ancient city of Pompeii, the legendary city covered by ash for centuries before being discovered. To get to Pompeii from Naples, we took a train ride of about 40 minutes. 

We were hoping to find a place to eat between the Pompeii station and the ruins. No problem. There was a line-up of five or six restaurants along the road that led to the main entry gate for the ruins. We chose a place with friendly staff, and (ironically, as this was a major tourist area) I had one of the better meals of the trip: gnocchi with cheese sauce and a wonderful pizza I shared with Bob.

We met up with our guide Dario, an archaeologist who gives tours of the site, and began a three-hour walk through what used to be a wealthy town of somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 people before it was buried in 13 to 20 feet of volcanic ash by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

The ruins were discovered in the late 16th century, but excavation didn't begin until 1750, over 150 years later. In 1763, during the excavations, an inscription was found that identified the site as Pompeii.

Our initial impression on walking in was already WOW!  The UNESCO article on this site and its companion site Herculaneum (which my sister and BIL visited on the day they arrived before we got there) notes, "Pompeii and Herculaneum are the only Roman cities ruins preserved in such an exceptional way and have no parallels in integrity and extent in the world. [They] provide a full picture of Roman life from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD through the urban, architectural, decorative and daily life aspects that have been preserved."

Part of the restoration process is making it obvious where there have been modern renovations..

It's pretty amazing that after almost 2000 years, there is still this much color and detail in the frescoes.

This mosaic was protected by the alcove it is sitting in. These and other luxurious homes and buildings date back to about 200 BC to 14 AD.

Pompeii has five public bathing complexes, each with a complicated heating system to warm the water.

I think this photo shows one of the lead pipes that was part of the plumbing system:

The luxurious bathhouse for the wealthy had a nice view of daily life outside . . .

along with intricate geometric mosaic floors . . .

. . . and more colorful frescoes.

Moving on to another section of the city:

Various layers of construction are visible here. I love the diamond rather than square block construction. No doubt that has an engineering purpose, but I'm clueless as to what it might be.

Our guide told us why both thin and thick bricks were layered in the wall construction, but that's one of the many things I can't remember.

The city is divided into regions. Region 7 includes the Temple of Apollo (also known as the Sanctuary of Apollo), built in 120 BC, so it was already over 200 years old when Mt Vesuvius erupted.  By the way, can you see Mt. Vesuvius in the distance? It has a bad smoking habit.

Located in the forum, the central market space of Pompeii, this temple is Pompeii's most important religious building. The sculpture of Apollo is a copy of the original, which is housed in a museum in Naples.

There are columns of various styles everywhere. This must have been an imposing site in its heyday.

And here is the forum, a huge square bounded by the temple on the left side, with markets on the other side and a legislative building on a third side. 

Zooming in on the far end of the photo above, we can see the Temple of Jupiter, built in the mid-2nd century BC when Rome was gaining power over the area, meaning that the Roman god Jupiter became more important than the Greek god Apollo.

Close-up of one of the weird pillars, reminiscent (or pre-figuring?) the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Here is another one of those interesting walls with square bricks turned 90° to make diamonds.

There is a similar wall topped by a very cool statue of an armless centaur.

I thought this was a pretty amazing statue, but then I learned it is part of an exhibition by Igor Mitoraj, a Polish sculptor who died in 2014. We have seen his work in front yard of the Minneapolis Institute of Art, on the doors of the Church of the Gracious Mother of God in Warsaw, Poland, and in the city square in Krakow, Poland. I love adding Pompeii to that list!

On the east side of the Forum is the Portico of Concordia Augusta (also known as the building of Eumachia, the priestess of Venus, an actual Pompeiian woman who was quite wealthy and powerful). 

One of the most moving and simultaneously disturbing exhibits at Pompeii are what I thought were bodies that were essentially mummified by volcanic ash, but I have learned that they are actually modern plaster casts of the places where the bodies once were. As 19th-century excavators worked to uncover ruins, they began to notice strange holes and cavities, sometimes containing human remains. Lava once encased human bodies, but as those bodies decomposed, they left a void in the lava. Excavators figured out that they could pour plaster of Paris into the void to create a plaster cast that looked like the human body that once lay there.

That makes this figures in their glass cases just a little less creepy.

The House of the Vetti is one of the largest and best preserved villas among the ruins. Surprisingly, it was owned by two former slaves, possibly brothers, who became rich through the wine industry.  It was recently reopened to the public after 20 years of restoration. Check out Cupid riding a crab in the photos below.

I debated whether or not to include this, um, interesting statue standing in the courtyard. What the heck. This statue is the minor fertility Greek god Priapus, also protector of livestock, fruit plants, and (duh) male genitals.

This reminded me a bit of the interior courtyard of the Getty Villa in Pacific Palisades, California.  When I looked it up, I found the Getty courtyard was modeled after Pompeii's neighbor, Herculaneum, also buried in ash by the eruption on 79 AD.

The frescoes are unbelievably rich and vibrant after nearly two millenia.

There are pillars and sculptures everywhere, indications of the wealth of the residents.

Several broad, straight avenues crisscross the city, providing easy access to most side streets.

It's pretty clear which streets you are not supposed to take your carriage down. Those two long oval rocks form a bridge used to cross the street when it is flowing with rain water--or sewage. The vertical stone prevents horses from going down the middle.

The House of the Faun has the word HAVE written in the entrance pavement with stones.  That doesn't mean the residents have a lot of goods (although they apparently did). It is a variant of the Latin word ave, a word for "welcome" or "hail."

This is the largest, most luxurious home uncovered in Pompeii so far. It comprises an entire city block. In its central courtyard is a copy of the Dancing Faun. (The original is housed by the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.)

House after house, each with something interesting to examine. The engineering alone was mind-boggling.

Dario pointing out clay vats used for . . . I can't remember what.

Below left: In contrast to the "Welcome" front door inscription depicted earlier, this menacing mosaic dog is embedded in the entrance to another villa, fondly known as "The House of the Tragic Poet"  At the pooch's front feet is the Latin phrase cave canem - "Beware of the dog."

Below right: Terra cotta jars are inserted into a nicely tiled countertop in what was likely a shop or perhaps a restaurant. Maybe a salad bar???

Here's another version of the shop/bar/restaurant:

We were lucky to be visiting on a March afternoon when the ruins were not too crowded, but it wasn't hard to imagine these cobbled streets filled with horses and people and noise and smells.

I guess even ancient ruins need modern first aid facilities.

Here is another one of the bronze statues by the Polish sculptor Mitoraj on temporary display among the ruins of Pompeii. This footless, handless fellow seems to be an appropriate guard for the ruins of the city. 

He stands near the almost totally destroyed sanctuary of Venus, the patron goddess of Pompeii.

About two-thirds of Pompeii has been excavated so far, and the archaeological and anthropological work will continue for years to come.

This must be a dream job for archaeologists and anthropologists!

MOVIES

I was behind in the reading I had selected for this trip, so instead of reading a book about Pompeii, we decided to watch the 2014 movie Pompeii starring Kiefer Sutherland. 

If you are looking for historical accuracy, this might not be your best choice. While it is fun to imagine what life and then death by eruption would have looked like in the ancient city, the story of a romance between a gladiator and a noblewoman is a bit far-fetched. 

Kieffer Sutherland plays a  nasty Roman general who kills the parents of a young boy who grows up to be the said gladiator. It was not his best performance.