Our last stop was Naples. Naples is the third largest city in Italy right after Rome and Milan. It's one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the world. Bronze Age Greek settlements were established around the 2nd millennium BC. Naples was also the most bombed Italian city during WWII.
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| a medieval castle at the port of Naples |
Naples' historic city center is the largest in Europe. Naples is synonymous with pizza which originated in the city and houses historically significant sites such as Roman ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Of which we checked out both!
Pompeii... the buried city.. how did it happen?
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| Mt. Vesuvius (background) is considered to be one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world. |
Pompeii's Forum Square, the center of this ancient city, was a large open space. Around it stood the main public buildings, both civil and religious, which was also adorned with numerous monuments and games. The Forum of Pompeii still retains its ancient appearance of a rectangular piazza.
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| an illustration of what the Forum Square looked like |
Mt Vesuvius was and is the only active volcano on mainland Europe. It is best known because of the eruption in 79 AD that destroyed the city of Pompeii. Mt. Vesuvius is a complex statovolcano (tall cone-shaped made up by many layers of lava and volcanic ash) because its eruptions typically involve explosive eruptions as well as pyroclastic (hot gas and rock) flows. These flows can move up to 450 mph and the gas can reach temperatures of 1,830 degrees F.
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| A map of Pompeii |
Mt. Vesuvius buried the city of Pompeii on August 24, 79 AD. The volcano was only 5 miles away from the city at the time. It spouted a deadly cloud of volcanic gas, stones, ash and fumes to the height of 20.5 miles. (It ultimately released a hundred thousand times the thermal energy released by the Hiroshima bombing.) The eruption lasted for two days! Eventually the city was buried under 13 to 20 feet of ash and pumice.
The rain of ash and pumice stones wasn't lethal so many stayed behind, huddled inside buildings. As the shower of debris intensified many sought escape from their hiding place but encountered clogged narrow streets. Unlike what some textbooks say, some did escape the disaster. An
estimated 16,000 died from the eruption out of a population of 20,000.
There were some eye witness accounts of what had happened thus they were
able to document the disaster.
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| The Main theater: the white stones were originals |
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| Sitting on it's original steps where many many Romans had sat almost 2000 years ago. |
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| An illustration of what the theater looked like 'before' it's destruction |
Pompeii was a thriving provincial center located a few miles from the Bay of Naples. Its narrow streets were made narrower by street vendors, numerous shops and even a brothel or two. A new aqueduct supplied running water from the mountains which gushed from fountains throughout the city, even in private homes. Pompeii had is own amphitheater, gymnasium and a port. But the key to the city's prosperity was it's region's rich black earth. One of the pluses of living near a volcano is that they tend to produce fertile soils to grow olives, grapes etc..
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| The amazing precision of plastering what was left behind. |
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| In this picture you can see the detailing of what they were even wearing (a toga) at the time of death. |
Because the city was buried so quickly by volcanic ash, the site became a well preserved snapshot of life in a Roman city. The objects that lay beneath the city were so well preserved for thousands of years because of the lack of air and moisture. During the excavation, plaster was used to fill the voids between the ash layers that once held human bodies. This allowed one to see the exact position the person was in when s(he) died.
Here are more glimpses of what IS and WAS of Pompeii...
The Theaters Quadriporticus was built in the 1st century BC. The portico, the structure consisting of a roof supported by columns, was well preserved. This theater was converted into a large barrack for gladiators in 62 AD.
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| The theater quadriporticus after.. |
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| ... and before. |
The Romans worshiped many gods. The Temple of Apollo was erected since the emperor Augustus had a particular devotion to this god whom he thinks helped him win the battle of Actium against Antony and Cleopatra in 31 BC.
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| the temple |
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| Is.. |
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| ... and WAS |
The Basilica was the place to meet for government and business purposes and was considered the most busy place in the ancient city.
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| The bottom of the columns still exist |
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| the illustration of what it WAS like |
A local tavern which were frequented by local customers. They consisted of an area opening onto the street and equipped with a stone counter, often cased in slabs of marble, of which food was stored in.
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| Hungry anyone? |
The streets were very narrow and considered 'paved'. The large blocks in the road were considered to be the 'crosswalk' of their time and allowed pedestrians cross the street. Why can't they walk on the other parts of the street (you mean jay walk you ask?). Well, the paved street doubled as the city's drainage and sewage disposal system. Get the picture? I can't imagine the smell!!
The spaces between the bricks allowed the chariots to pass along the road.
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| See the deep groves of the wheel tracks? |
An interior of a private home. The homes were furnished with a bath in the entry way along with the kitchen in front of the house. It was important for the kitchen to be located there since water and sewage was to be gathered and dumped out into the streets.
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| Many of the original paintings were still evident |
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| detailed interior in a private home |
Medieval Graffiti...
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| Looks like the Colosseum |
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| a unicorn? |
NEXT UP: An Even Better Ruin
