Pompeii

Close your eyes for a second and picture yourself standing in the middle of an ancient Roman city. The year is 79 AD. On either side of you are buildings and large columns made from stone and brick. All around you people are milling about, carrying on about their daily lives. There is a bathhouse to your left with colorful artwork painted on the walls, and a cobblestone street beneath your feet. Ahead of you, stretching up over the city, is a large volcanic mountain that has been sitting idle for almost 300 years.

You are standing in the streets of Pompeii, a rich and prosperous ancient Roman city. There have been a few minor earthquakes in the area recently, but no one seems concerned. On this particular day, everything seems normal. Morning passes by uneventfully.

But around 1:00 PM that volcano, Mount Vesuvius, erupts sending ash, hot gas and volcanic matter rushing into the city. The eruption lasts two days leaving death and destruction in its wake. The city, and many of its inhabitants, are buried beneath the ash.

And over the next several hundred years, the city is forgotten.

In the late 1500’s, the city is rediscovered, but only temporarily. It isn’t until the 1760’s, after another rediscovery, that excavations begin. Since, many artifacts have been found including pottery, artwork, tools, and preserved human remains.

Today you can explore the city, see some of the preserved artifacts and paintings and get an idea of what life would have been like for residents of Pompeii.

We stopped in Pompeii on our way to Rome from Sorrento. We got to spend several hours wandering the streets and buildings while our tour guide told us more about the history of the city. The tour was mostly interesting, although at one point our tour guide lost half of the group (our half) and we had to search for her for 15 minutes. (Only partially our fault btw.)

Mal- It’s not quite what I thought it would be. I guess in my mind, the city was still covered in ash and there were preserved bodies just lying around. Instead the streets and buildings were relatively clean and there are patches of grass all around you. I also didn’t imagine it to be so big. I was surprised at how much of the art and tile work on the floors seemed to be preserved after so many years. It was a strange experience to stand on the street facing Mount Vesuvius and thinking about what the eruption must have looked like all those years ago.

Court- To me, it had a solemn feel. Just imagining the people that had lived and died here was a somewhat surreal experience.

The story of Pompeii and the eruption of Mount Vesuvius is one of the more well-known from Italian history. If you ever get the opportunity to visit, we definitely recommend it. Just a fair warning, it is very hot here (like most of Italy) in the summer months (Jun-Aug) and there isn’t a ton of shade.