Pompeii, A City Frozen in Time

Sometimes visiting a historical site is like walking into a science fiction or fantasy story land.  You've already spent hours exploring its streets, buildings, and people through the pages of your books or the pictures on the internet.  You've rejoiced in their victories and mourned through their tragedies.  And after all those hours, to finally stand on the actual streets and touch its buildings, all you can think is Wow!

The entire eight hours we spent in ancient Pompeii was like a dream.  I'd studied Latin and Roman culture from eighth grade through to my final years at university, so the streets of Pompeii were familiar to me, yet also alien.  As most of you know, Pompeii is an ancient town more famous in death than life.  In 79AD Mt Vesuvius erupted, sending a toxic mix of volcanic ash and gas over 20 miles into the air, destroying nearby cities, including Pompeii, in the process and ultimately burying it under 13 to 20 feet of volcanic material.  The city - and those of its citizens who did not escape - lay entombed and untouched for over 1600 years until a surveying engineer discovered it in the mid 1700s.

Many tourists choose to visit Pompeii as a day trip from Naples or even Rome.  However, we decided to make Pompeii our home base, staying at the Hotel Vittoria in a room with balcony views of the ruins.  It was a wonderful decision.  (More on Hotel Vittoria, the amazing staff, and our experience with Pompeii outside the ruins in a later post!)  On our first full day in Italy, we woke up early and eagerly set out to explore the ruins of Pompeii.  Originally, we planned to visit the ruins in the morning and climb Mt. Vesuvius in the afternoon, as Rick Steves had indicated only 2-3 hours were needed for the ruins.  Either he grossly underestimated or else our fascination for the place is more than the average tourist's, but we stayed in the ruins from 930 to 1800 - over eight hours!

Highlights:

The House of the Faun appears in nearly every guidebook, history book, and online article about Pompeii.  Its name derives from the statue of a faun found there.  Entering by the front door, you are greeted with a large mosaic of "HAVE," a salutation of ancient times, and a copy of the faun statue in the inner garden.  A local artist, sanctioned by the University of Napoli to paint copies of famous Pompeiian motifs and sell them, has a stand in the House of the Faun to sell his replicas.  You'll also find a 2005 copy of the famous Alexander Mosaic (almost all Pompeiian originals are housed in the museum located in Naples), of which the original dates to 100BC!

It's hard to ignore Mt. Vesuvius, looming large and moodily, to the north of Pompeii.  In fact, from the very moment we stepped foot off the train, I was acutely aware of the volcano's presence.  It's so beautiful, and yet ominous.

 
We were absolutely fascinated with the grooved ruts of the streets' cobblestones.  In some places the grooves were 4-5 inches deep and as wide as Danny's feet (trust me, that's big!).  You can imagine how many years it took for the stones to be worn down from the passage of carts and chariots rolling through.

Maybe we were just really hungry, but the ancient fast food shops gave us quite a bit of fun!  Pompeiian fast food joints differ little from modern ones - simple, small, with just a few menu choices.  Did you know that a favorite condiment of Roman times was garum, a fish sauce?  (If you're a geek like me and want to read more about it, NPR has a cool article here.)

The body cast replicas reminded us that the Pompeii ruins were the final resting place for thousands of people who were unable or chose not to leave when Vesuvius erupted.  Each body's pose might in some way reflect their state of mind in their last moments: some resigned, some prostrate, some cowering in a corner, and some twisted in agony.  One of the more tortured poses is that of a dog, which was chained and unable to escape.

The Cave Canem mosaic graces the atrium of a house not far from the House of the Faun.  It was closed to tourists while we were there, but we were able to squeeze our camera through the grate and plastic liner to snap a photo!

Cover your kids' eyes when you take a peek inside the Lupinare, the best preserved brothel of ancient Pompeii.  There are a few original wall paintings in the building, demonstrating the lustful activities that occurred there.  Compared to the paintings in the Terme Suburbane, these are tame.  (And for you fellow Latin geeks, brothels got the name "lupinare" due to the sounds the women would make as they enticed their prospective customers.  Apparently, it was reminiscent of a wolf's howl.)

The Forum was and is the heart of ancient Pompeii.  The Temple of Jupiter features prominently at the northern end, reminding citizens that the gods could bless or curse their lives on a whim, and the administrative buildings of the Basilica sit at the southern end of the forum - another reminder that one has more than just the gods to placate!  With the noise of large tour groups around us, it wasn't hard to imagine this as a bustling hub of activity for ancient Pompeiians.

Bust of Jupiter at his temple

The Pompeii ruins are a must-see, whether you can afford only a few hours or can spend a whole day wandering through the ruined buildings.  We didn't even get to see everything as we overheard other tourists talking about a building that had "dozens" of body casts in it - I still don't know what building they were talking about!  I think we must've missed a whole neighborhood, and of course, some buildings were also closed to the public.  Only half of Pompeii has been excavated, so you never know what new things may be open for your visit!

If you'd like to see more photos from our visit to Pompeii, check out my blog's Facebook page!

Have you visited Pompeii?  What did you think?

The Ampitheater

 
Cost:  11 euros per person
Time Needed:  2-3 hours or 7-8 if you're Roman ruin nuts like us!
Accessibility:  The main entrance to the Pompeii ruins is located a stone's throw from the Circumvesuviana train station, helpfully called the Pompeii Scavi - Villa dei Misteri stop (scavi is Italian for excavations), on the Napoli to Sorrento train line.  If you're arriving by train, you'd take a right out of the station and the ruin's entrance will be on the left in about 100 meters.  Bus tours will drop you off in a square just outside the Hotel Vittoria, and you'll be directed to the ruins by your bus driver or tour guide. 
Website:  http://www.pompeiturismo.it/index.php?Itemid=28&lang=en 
Money-Saving Tips:  Download Rick Steves' free podcasts on your smartphone to eliminate the need to rent an audio guide from the ticket office (this will save you 6.50 for one or 10 euros for two audio guides).  We forgot to bring the phone with the downloaded podcast into the ruins, so we rented the guides, and found them to be adequate (Rick Steves is more entertaining!).  You cannot leave and reenter the ruins so pack a lunch and picnic discretely (the ruins are extensive and once you're away from the main forum, you could find a more deserted area) if you want to avoid paying high prices at the one and only cafe.  Bring a water bottle and refill at any of the water fountains - the water tastes bad (what can you expect from a volcanic region?), but it's better than spending a fortune buying water, especially during a hot summer visit!
Other Tips:  Wear comfortable shoes as the ancient cobblestones can be difficult to walk on.  If you're short on time, skip the Villa dei Misteri as it's outside the city walls by a decent walk.  If you'd prefer to not see any licentious images, skip the Lupinare, the Terme Suburbane, and the House of the Vetii.

Linking up with #CityTripping hosted by MummyTravels.com!

Linking up with #TravelTuesday!