Pompeii
The main reason I chose Italy for this vacation was that I wanted to see Pompeii.
The city was well established by 424 BC. In 80 BC it became a Roman colony. The buildings were huge and lavish with large columns, marble reliefs, statues, etc.
| In 62 AD the town was damaged by an earthquake. They were still repairing the damage in 79 AD when Mt. Vesuvius blew and covered the city in volcanic ash. Due to the nature of volcanic ash and the speed in which the town was covered (2 days) the city is well preserved, including buildings, objects of daily use, painted walls, etc. |
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| The ash packed around the bodies of the residents that were killed. One of the archeologists decided to pour plaster in the holes left after the bodies decayed, making casts of those that died. Creepy. |
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I was surprised at 3 things:
1) How big it is. We spent 2 - 3 hours walking around in the hot sun and gave up before seeing it all. After a while it all starts to look the same.
2) Many of the wall decorations have been removed and sent to a museum in Naples. How could they "disassemble" a place that was so valued for being found intact and in such good condition? Very disappointing. Especially since the museum is only 1/2 hour away by train.
3) There are few clues for tourists in the city of ruins. Roads weren't marked, signs were nearly non-existent. The maps gave no hints on what to see. My advice to anyone going there is to research the places you want to go and plan a route before you get there.
Regardless, we got a good sense of what it was like there. Imagination fills in a lot. I bought a CD that gives a virtual tour of Pompeii and one that shows the collection in Naples, and I will easily be able to visualize it there.