Pompeii, Italy!

     So here we are, Day 2 of our Italian adventure! As I mentioned in the previous post, we rented a car and planned a couple of day trips out of Rome. Our adventure today is to Pompeii!! We are so excited! We studied a great deal about Ancient Roman times and Pompeii in our homeschooling. We dove back into the books we enjoyed and did several activities together. One of Cameron’s favorite Magic Tree House books is Vacation Under a Volcano, which is all about Pompeii!

     We were pleasantly surprised at how beautiful the countryside was on our drive to Pompeii. We are quite spoiled with amazing scenery in Scotland, so I really don’t think about other countries. But it was a really lovely drive.

Landen wanting to “drive”…to think, it’s not really that long off!!

  Our Italian rental car

Those freckles just melt me…:)…growing up so much.

Our drive – Pompeii is about 3 hours South East of Rome (along the front of “The Boot”). It is just outside of Naples in the Italian region of Campania, Italy. 

 

Almost there…the farther mountain, with the “flat top” is Mt. Vesuvius! Amazing to see it in real life! Pompeii was a small town/village that sat at the base of that mountain, until  79AD.

     Okay, I could seriously write this post for days and days, as the history of Pompeii is just AMAZING!!! If you are at all interested you should “Goggle” it and learn more.  I will put some Wiki bits in, but there is soooooooooo much. I will let you enjoy lots of our photos, but try to keep in perspective so much of the amazement of these pictures is that this “city” was COMPLETELY buried. And it happened so QUICKLY that it looks “frozen in time”. Because the ash was light in weight, it didn’t even crush some things! If you want a quick history of it read the Magic Tree House book I mentioned early!

     From Wiki - Pompeii is a ruined and partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Along with Herculaneum, its sister city, Pompeii was destroyed, and completely buried, during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning two days in 79 AD.

     The volcano collapsed higher roof-lines and buried Pompeii under 60 feet of ash and pumice, and it was lost for nearly 1,700 years before its accidental rediscovery in 1748. Since then, its excavation has provided an extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of a city at the height of the Roman Empire. Today, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Italy, with 2,571,725 visitors in 2007.

     ^{Little word of note: Pompeii is the Ancient City, that are now ruins and Pompei is the present day city, where the Ancient City is located. Does that clear it up?}

  Fabulous church steeple in the center of present-day Pompei

Mark getting our tickets for entrance into the Ancient City of Pompeii.

Walkway from the entrance where we bought our tickets.

 

Look at the detail. You can still see the perfect condition plaques above the door. These were probably stores or craftsman shops, as they line a road right outside of a large arched entrance to the central part of Pompeii.

The street along which these building are situated.

Trevor exploring through one of these doors above.

 Statues and broken bits of columns found when the city was excavated from its long slumber.

One of the entrance arches into the main part of the Ancient city. How in the world did this not collapse!? This place still blows my mind as I sit here writing about it.  There was a wall along each side. Note the amazing large cobble street, which was hand-laid  in 1st Century Rome!…still in perfect condition.

Cameron and Trevor in the doorway of what was probably a store.

A small fully preserved building.

Ruts in the stone streets, from the years and years of use by horse and carts.

One of the the streets of Ancient Pompeii.

 The stoves in the kitchen of one of the many houses.

Here you can see where there were pottery pots, probably holding water, were lined up along a wall. Even after being covered by ash and then, essentially, being a “lost city”, under the foot of another city, one of these pots is almost “untouched”.

Another street in Pompeii…a fresh water spout on the left.

We found this adorable “boy” statue among the prized archeological finds! :)

Open courtyard of one of the homes.

 Beautiful inner courtyard of one of the larger homes.

Look at this painting!! UNTOUCHED since 1st Century Rome. Unbelievable! The colors are still so vibrant!

This might seem like a random photo, but if you look closely at those “things” sticking out on the right side of the picture…See them? Those are the NAILS that were in the wooden door!!! They are still there! Some of the wood has disintegrated, but the nails are in perfect condition! Can you say, WOW!!

Trevor standing by another “kitchen” area.

 My amazing family in the streets of Ancient Pompeii! What an adventure of a lifetime!

Handmade pots, standing in the same place they were in 79AD!

This had to be one of my FAVORITE spots in the city! Look at the countertop in this kitchen!!! The colors are beautiful. I would have it in MY kitchen if I could! The tiered shelves in the back, probably held stoneware and other kitchen essentials. There are also two more cooking ovens/areas at the back.

The painting of the time would have most likely been “fresco” style. Look at how “bright” these colors are still!

An amphitheatre inside the city. Romans performed some of the earliest theatre, so an amphitheatre was a very important and central structure in Roman Life.

The beautiful floor of the amphitheatre.

Walls surrounding the amphitheatre. Notice the stone arches built into the walls…these were for support. Amazing engineering feats of the time!

Statue at the base of the amphitheatre. This is where the spectators would have gone up to file into their seats.

Still amazes me…

Does this look like it was built prior to 79AD?? It has been measured by scientist and it is an EXACT semi-circle! Not a hair off the mark!

     Mosaic floor that would have been laid piece by piece…If you this this is amazing, wait until you see some of the other mosaics further down the post!

The Forum of Ancient Pompeii – This would have been a marketplace, meeting place for groups, open forum for speeches, where the lawmen and politicians would meet to discuss policy, etc. It would have been bustling with activity all the time!

Another view of the columns surrounding the Forum.

More amazing detail work…individual stones in order to achieve this effect.

  The boys enjoying the day in Pompeii!

A picture perfect moment in front of the Forum in the ancient city of Pompeii!!

Mark soaking up all the history we were trying to take in…:)

   This boy eats more apples than you can even imagine…

  The platform at the high point in the Forum. Try to imagine the speeches that took place here. What was the subject? What law trials took place? Who traded what here?  Wow, the mystery and awe of ancient Roman history!! (Sorry if you are not a “history buff”…I just soak this stuff up!!:))

This is almost surreal to see….these shelves go far beyond my photo. These are some of the pottery jars and pots that were discovered in the excavation of the city of Pompeii. Look how many are perfect!! This place is seriously like being “stuck in time”! It is so easy to almost feel as you were “living in the day”, because SO much is “just the way” it was the day the volcano erupted in 79AD!!

A inhabitant of the Ancient city of Pompeii…very well preserved.

Bit of the history of this aspect of it all -  Although the flesh decayed the skeletons of the victims remained trapped within the preserving layer of volcanic debris. This sarcophagus of ash also maintained an imprint of each body as it was at the time of death. (Wow!)

     In 1777, the remains of a young woman were found at the Villa Diomede. As well as her skeleton, the outline of her breasts and body shape was clearly visible in the material packed beneath her. Many further examples were discovered. It was not until 1864 that a technique was found to recapture the appearances of the dead.

     Giuseppe Fiorelli, the director of excavations realised that if the ash cases containing skeletons were kept intact, it would be possible to pour plaster into the hollow, which would then set about the skeleton to reveal an exact cast of the body at the moment of death. The technique was successful and has been used ever since .It has been recently updated with excavators using transparent glass fibre in place of the plaster which allows the skeleton to remain visible, along with any jewellery or clothing that survived.

What do these bodies tell us?

     The casts reveal and incredible amount of detail about the lives of the people. Not only are the overall shapes of the bodies visible but in some cases facial features, hairstyles, even clothing and belts. The details of their deaths are also preserved in their contorted facial features and limbs.

The bodies give a snapshot of the last moments of the life of Pompeii. Examples of those found include:

· A beggar at the Nucerian gate with his sack of alms and a pair of decent sandal recently donated to him.

· The doorkeeper of the House of Menander who was found in his cubicle at the entrance, hidden under pillows with a small child and his master’s seal and purse.

     A bit of recap of that fateful day in 79AD -     

In 79AD, Vesuvius erupted, destroying the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii. The pyroclastic blast from the eruption incinerated the inhabitants of Herculaneum. In Pompeii, although the 2000 inhabitants who did not escape the city were killed, the eruption preserved as well as destroyed.

Hundreds of bodies have been discovered since excavations of the city began. They tell us a great deal about the city’s and it's inhabitants last moments.

The eruption of Vesuvius did not occur quickly. Beginning at 1pm on the 24th august 79AD, it did not reach its concluding stages until the following morning. For those in Pompeii who had not managed to escape, the end came at about 7.30am on the 25th August.

A massive pyroclastic surge headed towards the town at 100kph, carrying lethal gases and hot ash from the eruption column. Death for the inhabitants was slow and painful. They would have inhaled the hot gas and ash that would have caused their lungs to flood with fluid. Subsequent breaths would have mixed more ash in the lungs that would have caused a kind of cement which led to suffocation.

Following the surge, first pumice and then ash fell on the city out of which only the tallest buildings and gates were visible. Rain fell, turning the ash into a mud which encased the bodies.

· Priests from the temple of Isis found in the triangular forum who were killed by collapsing columns, the sacred emblems of the temple they were carrying away scattered about them.

· Two manacled men abandoned in a cell in the gladiator’s barracks.

· The body of a woman wearing costly jewellery found in a gladiator’s cell.

· Bodies on the roads leading out of Pompeii wearing heavy outdoor clothing, put on to protect them as they tried to flee the city.

· A dog in the House of Vesonius Primus who unable to escape the atrium climbed as high up the debris as his chain would allow before dying. (Here is the photo)

A male body crouched down…probably very afraid that day.

 More jars, plaques, column parts, and even a human body!

Cameron just loves the camera! But I think on this day, he loved Pompeii WAY more! He was bouncing with excitement, and SO proud at how much he knew about it all already! He was walking around pointing stuff out to US! He just seems to love history and being able to bring it alive for him is so wonderful!

   This domed ceiling remained unscathed through the centuries…under all the volcano’s rubble!

 

Smooth marble carved in a perfect circle…made PRIOR to 79AD! Talk about craftsmanship!

We loved the streets!

I sit here trying to imagine it in its full glory!

 The base of a monument, engraved with its significance.

  These next few photos are of the “large” house at the high point of the city. It would have been occupied by a influencial/wealthy family. It has been practically untouched…check out the photos!

Awesome roof! Looks like a lot of the roofs in the  subdivisions in Houston! Amazing isn’t it?

After the excavations, they have reinforced some walls in order to assure their preservation.

 Look at the colors.

A body of someone who was sleeping when the volcano erupted.

Ancient city of Pompeii from a bit of a distance.

A beautiful view of Mt. Vesuvius

Okay…driving back to Rome now! What a day! Almost too much to really take in. It almost doesn’t seem real! I thank God every day for the amazing things He has placed before us here…the adventure has been unbelievable!! Thank you God, for all you do!

A pretty house I saw set up on a hill on our ride back.

 My love…always keeping our “plans” moving smoothly! Here he is enjoying the open road in Italy!

Check out his speed!!!! (Don’t freak out…it’s in KPH, not MPH…hee, hee, hee! :)

This is the conclusion of our Day 2 of our Italian adventure!!! Until next time…God Bless!