Pompeii
5 ottobre 2011
Definite Beauty & Lots of Ruin
We spent most of the day in Pompeii - the best-known of the towns that were buried by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in August of the year 79. We've been 4 times now and will probably go again every time we go to Italy. I find Pompeii endlessly fascinating - and there's so much I still haven't seen.
A mosaic over the water supply in the suburban baths (the baths outside the walls of the city):
Climbing into the city from what used to be the Marina and shoreline:
Crossing a street on stepping stones. When Pompeii was a living city, the streets would have been filled with garbage, sewage, and animal droppings - not some place you'd want to step. The streets in Pompeii are graded downward slightly from the acqueduct cistern. Periodically (weekly?) water would rush through the streets to help move some of the ick along and out to the bay, but most of the time the streets would have been stinky & disgusting.
In some of the houses, the original wall paintings are still carefully preserved. These are from a house known as the "House of the Prince of Naples" because parts of it were excavated in the presence of the prince to show him the beauties of what was being found at Pompeii.
Vesuvius is a constant reminder of how this city met its end.
Everyone finds their own way of keeping out of late autumn's heat...
A shaded waiting area at the forum baths (Men's section). Men would have mingled here as they waited for space to free up in the warm tubs.
A brazier held a fire to keep the warm room warm
The waiting room - transitioning from warm to cold baths:
Pompeii was an ancient city when the volcano erupted. The streets show signs of centuries of carts wearing down the stones.
On the Circumvesuviana train - headed back to our apartment.
