All roads lead to Pompeii

Monday March 26 was mainly cloudy with a bit of sun and a high of 14C.  Our destination was Pompeii.

We walked to the train station to catch the 11:11 a.m. train.  On the way, we saw that a small square off Via Tribunale (the main street perpendicular to the street we are staying on) was being readied for the film shoot for the RAI (Italian network) and HBO miniseries of Elena Ferrante's My Brilliant Friend.  The series will be in Italian with English subtitles and should be on the air later in 2018.

Getting the square to look like the 1950s

Old Salumeria sign

Old potato sacks etc.

Approaching the Galleria in front of the train station

The train was very old, crowded and there were about 20 stops before we got to Pompeii.   However, the trip still only took 40 minutes.  We got the audio guide and a map, that was often frustrating to follow.

We ended up spending 3 1/2 hours walking around the ruins of Pompeii and we felt we had just touched the surface.  Here's a snapshot of the history:  The origins of Pompeii are a bit uncertain, but it seems likely that it was founded in the 7th century B. C.  by the Campanian Oscans.  After a number of different rulers, it became a Roman colony in 80 B.C.  In 62 A.D., the city was struck by a major earthquake.  Damage was widespread and much of the city's approximately 20,000 population was evacuated.  Fortuitously, many had not returned by the time Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D.  However, 2000 people died.  

At midday on August 24, 79 A.D., a massive boom occurred which heralded the eruption of Vesuvius.  A dark cloud of volcanic matter shot some 14 km above the crater.  Between 3- 5 p.m. lapilli (burning pumice stone) rained down on Pompeii.  Roofs start collapsing under the weight of the debris.  On August 25, surges of ash smothered Pompeii killing all remaining inhabitants.  The volcanic "blanket" safeguarded the city structures and frescoed treasures for almost two millennia.  It is an amazing story.

Pompeii was forgotten until 1594, when the architect Domenico Fontana stumbled across the ruins while digging a canal.  Exploration began in 1748.  Of Pompeii's 66 original hectares, 44 have now been excavated.

The result is an amazingly well-preserved slice of ancient life, with streets, houses, temples, shops, amphitheatres and baths.  The people of Pompeii lived very well-- there were beautiful large homes, extraordinary baths, temples and theatres.  The frescos and mosaics are incredibly beautiful.  

Just before the entrance to the ancient city walls is a 1st century B.C. bathhouse which is famous for its erotic frescoes.  Unfortunately, there was no access to the baths (at least not on the day of our visit).

1st century baths (Terme Suburbane) in the foreground and entrance to Pompeii

                                                Terme Suburbane-with a number of different rooms for bathing

Main entrance to Pompeii- one of 7 gates to the city.  It was the closest to the nearby harbour and is called Porta Marina

Just after the main gate was the visitors' centre.  We popped in and saw an excellent introduction video with lots of computer enhancement showing what life was like in Pompeii before its devastation.  There were also a few rooms with some of the artifacts from the city.  A temporary exhibit featured artifacts from one of the homes in Pompeii called the House of the Golden Bracelet, so named because of an amazing gold bracelet found there.

Beautiful fresco

Fragment of summer triclinium decorated with a pair of facing sphinxes- first half of 1st century A.D.

The gold bracelet with serpent heads- weighed 610g

                                                                 Plaster casts of victims of Pompeii

Fragment of fresco with candelabra- House of the Golden Bracelet

After the visitors' centre we headed out to explore Pompeii. We stopped at the Casa del Marinaio to admire a beautiful mosaic floor.

Mosaic floor at Casa Marinaio

Next was the Casa di Trittolemo, one of most prestigious homes in Pompeii.

House in one of the best locations in the city near the Basilica

We then entered an area called the Basilica.  The Basilica was the 2nd century B.C. seat of Pompeii's law courts and exchange.  Its semicircular apses would later influence the design of early Christian churches.

Basilica area

We sopped in the Foro (Forum), Pompeii's main piazza and hub of civic, commercial, political and religious activity.

Another preserved mosaic floor

We saw the Granai del Foro (Forum Granary) which is now used to store hundreds of amphorae and a number of body casts that were made in the late 19th century by pouring plaster into the hollows left by disintegrated bodies.

There were a number of locked storage cages where the casts and other remains were kept

We stopped at the House of Pansa, which still had amazing gates.  It was a large house.

Entrance to House of Pansa

Room layout and entrance to house

We then stopped at the Casa del Poeta Tragico (House of the Tragic Poet).  Behind a glass wall, was the world's first known "beware of the dog"- cave canem- warning on a mosaic floor!!!!

This mosaic reads: Beware of Dog--- unbelievable 

We then entered the Terme del Foro (Forum baths).  They were incredible.  There was a vestibule, vaulted apodyterium (changing room), a tepidarium (warm room) and caldarium (hot room).  The stuccoed vault and miniature statues were very well preserved.

In the changing room

One of the baths

Detail on the vault

Nearby was the Temple of Fortuna Augusta, another wealthy resident of the city.

Temple of Fortuna Augusta

There were a number of honorary gates in the city.

Arch of Nero

We then went to the Macellum, the city's main produce market.  The circular area in the centre was the tholos, a covered space in which fish and seafood were sold (fish bones were found in the drains).  Surviving market frescos revealed some of the goods for sale, including prawns.

Circular remains of fish market section of the macellum

Fescoes 

We also visited Casa del Fauno (House of the Faun).  This house covered an entire city block and had two entrances.  It is Pompeii's largest private house and is named after the bronze statue in the impluvium (rain tank).

The faun

It was here that the early excavators found Pompeii's greatest mosaics, most of which are now in Naples' Archeological Museum.   A beautiful mosaic  (the Alexander Mosaic), which depicts a battle between Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia was moved to the Museum in Naples in 1843. A copy that took 22 months to complete, was installed in the House of Faun in 2005.

Copy of the Alexander Mosaic at the House of the Faun

We went into the Casa dei Vetti- an amazing house with incredible frescoes.

Casa dei Vetti

Incredible frescoes- colours still beautiful

More detail

One of our last stops was the Tempio di Apollo (Temple of Apollo).  It is the oldest and most important of Pompeii's religious buildings, dating back to the 2nd century B.C.

Temple of Apollo

Replica of one of the statues ( a number of original artifacts have been removed to Naples' Archeology Museum)

We ended our visit with another quick stop at the visitors' centre.  There were some additional displays on a lower level.

The terracotta goddesses-- this statue actually came from a sanctuary just outside Pompeii,
dating from the 2nd century B.C. that was discovered in 1960

There was a huge statue near the entrance and visitors' centre--- very imposing, although we didn't see any signage identifying it.

The Pompeii experience was amazing.  It is incredible to see the details of an entire city which dated back to the 7th century B.C. and disappeared in 79 A.D.  However, we know we only saw a small corner in our 3 1/2 hour visit.  It is a tiring experience and a bit frustrating at times figuring out where one is on the map.

We said arrivederci to Pompeii and took the 3:53 p.m. train back to Napoli.  The return train was newer and an express, making only four stops.  It took just 25 minutes and we even had seats.

We walked back to the apartment and stopped by the square where the film shoot was being set up when we left in the morning.  They had started to take down the set, although there were still a lot of props and material in place.  Very exciting-- we will look for these scenes when the series is aired on HBO.

Old vegetable stands and sacks on set

The entire square had old signage and props

On the set

Alain on the set

Old death notices on the wall  (the present day ones are a bit different)

Posters from the 1950s

May Day and Communist Party posters and others for the film shoot, torn and dirtied and pasted on the walls of a nearby street to the square

We stopped at Pan'e Muzzarell, a lovely shop with wonderful meats and cheeses.  We picked up some food for dinner.

At Pan'e Muzzarell-- gorgeous meats and cheeses and other treats

We stopped for an apertivo of a delicious porchetta sandwich on lovely crusty bread and a glass of local wine at Jamón in the  Piazza San Domenico Maggiore.

Alain at Jamón

We wandered a bit more and then headed back to the apartment for a light dinner.  The Pompeii visit was overwhelming but well worth it.  Vesuvius is still an active volcano-- we are glad it has been sleeping for a while.