Pompeii

We all know about Pompeii and thanks to TV and Internet, we have seen the pictures of its fossilized people and ruins of temples and houses ..but nevertheless, to see this site in person gives another perspective. And so, we took the train from Naples - more specifically from the Circumvesuviana train station - to Pompei, a one hour trip. The trip itself was an eye opener... children beggars came across the wagons for money, and the train crossed all kinds of very unattractive and poor municipalities; we could see several camps covered by tarps (inhabited by gypsies?) with a level of poverty pretty shocking for Europe. Naples has a high rate of poverty, with children going to work at age of 11 to support their family.http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/1722081-child-labour-re-emerges-naples

The ruins of Pompeii are located near the modern suburban town of Pompei which was built on a spur formed by a lava flow to the north of the mouth of the Sarno river.

 

Today it is some distance inland, but in ancient times it would have been nearer to the coast. Pompeii is about 8 km (5.0 mi) away from Mount Vesuvius. It covered a total of 64 to 67 hectares (170 acres) and was home to approximately 11,000 to 11,500 people on the basis of household counts (therefore an important city in Campania).  There had been an earthquake 17 years before the deadly eruption of the Vesuvious and so many of its inhabitants had left as they did not feel safe anymore in this city.  The reconstruction of the city began soon after this quake but it was still ongoing when the 79AD eruption gave Pompeii the deadly blow.

The site of Pompeii began to be truly explored and excavated only in 1748 with the restauration works still ongoing. 2/3 of the site has been excavated as of now. In the recent years, there have been numerous reports in the European press that the moneys spent by the European Union on this UNESCO site have not been put to use..or at least to restauration use. The Mafia (camorra) is still a powerful organisation in southern Italy and it has been reported in Italian Press that there is now a special unit dealing with European union fonds...http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9622553/Making-a-killing-on-contracts-how-Italys-Mafia-has-plundered-EU-building-funds.html

Indeed, we were shocked to see that several important buildings of the site were closed and that there was not much work going on...also, many frescoes have been taken out of Pompeii and put in the archeological museum of the city of Naples. We are glad to have been there, however, because what is left of the site is impressive and fascinated us.

We had arrived early ... to avoid the crowd.  However, most of the "accessible" buildings were closed (and we had not been given any information as to which building was open to visit, and which one were closed.).  So, we meandered around for the first two hours, finding always closed doors, chained up.  Very disappointed, until we saw some locks to be opened around noon time ... the tourist buses had arrived, together with their paid guides.  What can we say ....?  More "special treatments here at work???".  Very frustrating.  So, we started our "visit" of these homes again!

Heiner is shown here walking right of the Forum which was the city's main square...carts traffic was forbidden! It was surrounded on all sides by administrative and political and religious buildings.  That day, we had a bit of rain but the cloudy skies gave the Pompeii ruins an ominous look...

 

A typical street ...when possible, we entered houses to admire ceramics or other life artefacts that pertained to the daily lives of these Romans...2000 years ago.

 

Mosaics were found in every house (after we had access ...!); typical colours for Pompeii were ochre, 2 different kind of red, blue, green and black. Mosaics also were used to decorate floors...or used to give explanantion as to the type of services  that were offered in certain houses...like in this bordello! or "lupanar".  The sex-trade was well and alive in this civilisation...while there was only one bordello in Pompeii, prostitues were rendering their services on the ground floors of hotels, taverns or even in private houses that had a room or rooms close to the street... with depictions of options available ..here are some. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Right, is the bronze statue of the Faun, pertaining to the house of the Faun, the largest house in Pompeii, with its 2970 square meters.. another striking decorative element of this noble house was a mosaic depicting the victory of Alexander the Great over Darius, King of Persia, which suggested a possible connection between the Macedonian ruler and the owner of the house.  The mosaic was difficult to photograph because it was not cleaned properly and covered by dust; it seemed in very good shape, otherwise.

 

The picture should have looked something like this ... with less sand and dust on its surface.  But still ...

In what used to be a granary and a food market, is now a storage rooms for diverse materials of Pompeii...including plaster casts of victims bodies.  

Throughout the site, cast of bodies can be found, suggesting how horrible it must have been to find oneself in Pompeii at the time of the eruption.

 

For the whole duration of our visit, we tried to imagine what life in Pompeii must have been...hopefully, the sites will remain despite societal crisis and political turmoil.

And so, after these two very special days in Naples and Pompeii, we too had to leave...