Pompeii

 Day 21 – Naples, Italy  Sunday, November 23

Tour Pompeii: City of Beauty & Ruin

We arrived in Naples at 8:00 AM after a stormy night at sea, 10 Meter (30+ ft) Waves and 35 mile an hour winds.  Thanks to modern boat design, it was not bad, just rocked you to sleep. We were extremely lucky as it had been raining for three solid days, but we arrived to a beautiful day



Just about 30 minutes drive from the port of Naples, we arrived at Pompeii.

Pompeii is the Picture of Ancient Life Frozen in Time. In 79 AD when Mt. Vesuvius erupted, Pompeii was buried under 20 feet of ash. It was not until 1759 that it was discovered under the reign of King Charles V of Bourbon.  The early excavations were more a treasure hunt looking for valuable items. More systematic excavation has revealed with astounding precision exactly what life was like on that day. 


Entering through the Stabiae Gate we came upon the Quatraportica. According to our map we received, this was a covered area used by Theater guests to linger during Intervals (Intermission) or to seek shelter during rain.

There is a Large and a small theater the larger holding approximately 4000 spectators


Inside the large theater, the marble seating was for nobel people and the upper areas for peasants and slaves


Just a couple of the Peasants




Shops lined the streets these were what was referred to as a Thermopolia ( From the Greek word thermos meaning hot and Poleo to Sell) they would serve hot food and drink to customers.


Inscription on wall plaque translated to The House of the Lovers










One of the many plaster casts of people who perished covered in volcanic ash. An archeologist finding a void in the ground during excavation decided to fill it with liquid plaster, after a couple of days of drying, they unearthed a cast of a person in the position they died.



The Roman Baths


The cold room, with spaces (lockers) for clothing and belongings


Fountain in center "warm" room


Marble Hot Tub


Brothel in "Red Light District". According to our guide the women here would howl like a wolf to attract customers from the nearby street.


Erotic pictures on the walls acted as a catalog where a man could point at what he wanted.



A rare occurance, there was snow on my Vesuvius occasionally there in Late January or February, but never this early.


More Plaster Casts




Many boxes of artifacts that have been uncovered.


In the Forum, The main square in the town


At the end of the Forum was the Temple of Jupiter (Zeus to the Greeks)


On the North side of the Forum was the Temple of Apollo




Comments

Post a Comment

Please leave your name so we know who is commenting.

Popular posts from this blog

The Trip Starts - Viking Ocean Cruises - Iconic Mediterranean Shores

Image
  Viking Ocean Cruises - Iconic Mediterranean Shores on the  Viking Vesta - Istanbul, Turkey to Barcelona, Spain Started with a long trip from home to Istanbul. Flights from Knoxville to Charlotte, North Carolina, Charlotte to London, England and London to Istanbul.  Flight Time 12 1/2 Hours plus another 9-10 hours in Airports. Finally got to the ship at about 9 PM the next day (local time). 
Read more

4/14/2024 Final Day of our Tour - Kutna Hora, Czech Republic

Image
Kutna Hora and Sedlec (a small suburb of Kutna Hora) is a unique site about an hour outside of Prague. In the middle ages it was a site of pilgrimage. Legend has it that the Abbot at the time Abbbot Heidenreich had travelled to Jerusalem and brought back a fistful of soil from Akeldama (Field of Blood) establishing the first holy field in Central Europe.  After a monk at the monestary here discovered silver in the second half of the 13th century, the population grew to about 80,000 making it one of the largest cities in the world at the time. With the black plague, mining accidents, etc. the cemetary grew to an unmanagable size of 3.5 Hectares (almost 9 Acres). At the time the solution was to build an Ossuary (a repository for the bones).  Since tradition mandates that remains must be buried below ground the Church od All Saints was built with the bones carefully stored in the basement "Below Ground". Records show that are over 500 Ossuaries in the Czech Republic, but this on...
Read more

The Full Acropolis Experience

Image
  Day 7 – Athens (Piraeus), Greece   Sunday, November 9 Driving out of the port, you com upon this beautiful Greek Orthodox Church. We drove past the ancient harbor of Zea, its dock dating to the 5th century BC although it is hard to tell where the old harbor ends and the new one starts. This is a bustling harbor.  there were three Viking cruise ships at the port and at least 15 ferries that travel to the surrounding islands. The tour description said "Upon arrival at the Acropolis, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, climb 80 steps through the Propylaeum, the grand entrance that delivers you to the plateau of the rock"  This was a lie they did not tell you about the six sets fo 20 steps each followed by hills to climb  to get to that 80 steps.  Once you get to the top, you can look down into the conservatory, an ampatheter where music venues are held. and that can seat approximately 2000 people. Then you look up and realize there is more stairs to...
Read more