THE ANCIENT RUINS OF POMPEII

One of the side trips we took while we were in Santa Maria di Castellabatte was to the ancient city of Pompeii.  We set our GPS to Pompeii and started on our journey.  Our great GPS took us right to the city of Pompeii, except it was not the ancient ruins, but the modern day Pompeii.  When we got there they were having a feast in the major part of the city.  Many streets were closed and it was extremely crowded.  We learned our lesson about visiting places on a Sunday.  Most places are quite busy, so it is much better to go during the week.  Because the ancient city of Pompeii has no specific address, we were not able to enter it into our GPS.  Believe it or not but our Tom-Tom did not list the ancient ruins as a point of interest. We parked the car and started walking, and walking and walking, but no ancient city.  This picture is of the church in the main piazza.  I never did get the name but it is kind of typical of cities in Italy with the main church or cathedral or duomo in the main piazza. 

The streets were crowded with vendors, mostly selling religious items.  This is typical of most of the vendor offerings.  We walked more and found a building that looked like maybe a town hall or some kind of municipal building.  We found a local police man (carabinieri) who was very nice and spoke just a little English.  After a short conversation with arms waving and fast talking in Italian he led us right to the bathroom.  When he realized that we were not looking for the bathroom but for the ruins, he pointed up the street and said "not far".  Well, after walking what seemed like a mile we turned back and decided to go back to the car and eat the panini's we bought on the way and then decide what to do next.  On the way back to the car I spotted an American Flag waving outside of a small hotel.  In I went and the owner, who by the way was orgionally from Castelabatte , gave us directions in English.  The ruins of Pompeii ended up to be just a short drive down the street from his hotel.

Here are some of the outside walls of the ancient city of Pompeii.  As you may know from ancient history, the volcano on Mt. Vesuvius had a major eruption in 79 A.D. and destroyed the city.  It is estimated the Pompeii had as many a 20,000 people living there at the time. Many escaped but many were lost  to the volcano.  The city was left buried under a thick layer of volcanic ash and debris.  It is really surprising how much is intact, even after almost 2000 years.

Another view of the outside walls of the city.  Pompeii was re-discovered in 1748 by a band of explorers from Spain.  This is when uncovering the ash and debris began and continues today.  We did notice when walking around the city that there were still areas that were being uncovered.  As I mentioned earlier, we were there on a Sunday.  Not a good idea.  There had to be hundreds of bus loads of people there walking around with tour guides.  It was a very warm day and the black ash which covers the streets and alleys makes it even hotter.

Unfortunately, because it was so busy that day, they were out of guide books written in English so we were on our own for the most part.  This is either the stables for the horses or it could be the open air market.  You can see here how much of the city was left intact once unearthed from all the ash and debris.

Here is the great amphitheater. This is still used today.  At the end from where this picture was taken, is a stage with modern equipment.  It is used for lectures and concerts.  It is quite large.  I am not sure how many people it will hold but I would venture a guess of at least one thousand people.

This is what remains of the many houses that were located within the city.  You could walk for miles on these roads to see what remains of the houses.  It was extremely difficult to walk because of the uneven stones that lined the streets and sidewalks.  I am not sure I would want to drive my little Fiat I have been driving here around Italy down one of these streets.  I think it would shake your inner parts out.  Not a pleasant thought.

This is a picture of one of the more intact houses.  This apparently was of someone of wealth.  There is a pool in the middle and several fresco's on the walls.  Notice the pillar and the beams that were holding up the roof.  The roof, however, is no longer there.  Remember all this was built over 2000 years ago.  It would be difficult to accomplish this even today.  And you would have to have tons and tons of money.

MORE FRESCO'S ON THE WALL

MORE FRESCO'S IN ANOTHER HOUSE

Another wealthy persons home.  There are three statues on the far side of this center area.  I know they have some significance but I am not sure what it might be.  As I mentioned earlier, we were unable to get a guide that was written in English.  They had Dutch, German, French and more but no English.  It is very different at attractions in Italy compared to the United States.  There are no placards or signs to tell you what you are looking at.  You are pretty much on your own, or you can hire a guide for several hundred euros to take you around.  We decided against that.

A VIEW OF ONE OF THE WIDER STREETS

The bodies are probably one of the most impressive attractions in ancient Pompeii.  This one is glass enclosed as you can see.  OK, it's not the real body, but is a plaster cast of the real body that was found in the ruins.  It is in the exact position it was found.  Bodies were preserved because they remained under tons and tons of volcanic ash which kept them air tight and therefore, there was no decay until uncovered.  There are several around the site but many are in a museum in Naples along with other important artifacts.

This could be a public bath.  It has a domed ceiling and an area that was probably filled with water.  You can also see what is left of the fresco's on the walls and ceiling,.  I remember in doing my research on Paestum, the ancient Greek city, that a swimming pool was used by women having a baby.  They would submerge themselves in the water while giving birth to avoid pain and to facilitate the birth.  Perhaps it was the same here in Pompeii.

This is the Forum.  It is an expansive area with many temples along the sides.  You can still see some of the columns that are left standing.  The temple in the background with one tall column remaining is the Temple of Apollo.  And, yes, the mountain you see here is Mt. Vesuvius.  I have a closer look below.

ANOTHER VIEW OF ONE OF THE TEMPLES ALONG THE SIDE

ANOTHER TEMPLE WITH VESUVIUS IN THE BACKGROUND

Another view of the Temple of Apollo with Vesuvius in the background.  The last Vesuvius erupted was in 1944.  It is still considered one of the most dangerous volcano's in the world.  Experts believe that another eruption is due any day.  It could be catastrophic considering that almost three million people live within a twenty mile radius of the crater.  I am happy to say that there was no activity from the volcano while we were there on that warm Sunday afternoon.

MORE ARTIFACTS FROM POMPEII. NOTICE ALL THE POTTERY THAT IS STILL INTACT

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More artifacts.  If you look closely at the object in the glass container it is the cast of a dog found intact under all the ash.  Notice the shelves lined with vases and other objects, mostly all intact.  It is just amazing that all of these items were extracted from the ruins and are still intact.  In fact, they could be useable today.  They are however behind thick locked iron fences.  I had to put my camera (iphone) inside the fence to take the picture.  I was hoping that I didn't drop it because it would have been impossible to retrieve.  Who knows, perhaps thousand of years down the road someone would be looking at it as just one of the artifacts.  I could just hear it now:  "Wow look Emily, they even had cell phones back then".

MORE AND MORE, THOUSANDS OF THEM

Well, look what we have here.  If you look in the background of this picture you will see part of a wood pizza oven.  Don't let it be said that they did not make pizza back then.  Hello, this is near Naples, where pizza was invented.  Many people we met here in Italy did tell us that the best pizza they had was in Naples.  I'll take their word for it because Napoli is not on our agenda on this trip.  Maybe some other time.  Speaking of pizza, my next and probably last blog for this trip will be on mozzarella.  To be more specific, mozzarella di bufala.  We visited the factory where they make it.  It is probably the only organic factory in Italy making the mozzarella.  Stay tuned for more.