Last Day - Pompeii & Amalfi Coast

The city of Pompeii was partially destroyed and buried under 13-20 ft of ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. It was lost for nearly 1700 years before its rediscovery in 1748. Since then, its excavation has given us insight into the life of a city during the Pax Romana.

Before Vesuvius blew up and filled in the harbor, the sea came nearly to Pompeii’s gate.  If you look carefully, you can see the stone rings where ships tied up to the dock.

 Dock of Pompeii just outside the city walls (above) and (below) closeup of the dock rings

The intersection of the Cardo and the Decamanus is the Forum (or a piazza.)  This is the intersection:

With a close-up of the Temple of Jupiter:

 This is an artist's rendition of what it would have looked like:

 Remnants of the Basilica near the Forum:

A first-century Basilica was a palace of justice.  This ancient law court has the same floor plan later adopted by many Christian churches which are also called basilicas.

Aqueduct Arch with Kathy and Tom, Vesuvius in the distance.  It almost always has clouds covering the top, we were told:

Pompeii had 6 public baths, each with a men's and women's section.  After working out, one could choose to relax in a hot bath, a warm bath, or a cold plunge.  In the dressing area you could see holes in the walls where pegs used to be for hanging your toga!

Ceiling in the bathhouse

 The water system was really good and there were these public wells for the households:

If you look carefully, you can see 3 large stones in the street.  Everyday the Pompeiians flooded the streets with gushing water to clean them.  These stepping-stones let pedestrians cross without getting wet.  Chariots could straddle the stones.  A single stepping-strone in a road means it was a one-way street, a pair indicates an ordinary two-way, and three means it was a major thoroughfare.

This is the bakery and mill.  It looks like they had a pizza oven going there:

They also had fast food restaurants.  Romans didn't cook in their tiny apartments, so to-go places like these were common:

With granite countertops:

Another one with art work intact:

This house had a mosaic floor in the entry way with the words "Cave Canum" or "Beware of Dog."

It had this lovely dining room:

During excavations in 1860, occasional voids in the ash layer had been found that contained human remains.  Giuseppe Fiorelli realized these were spaces left by the decomposed bodies and so devised the technique of injecting plaster into them to recreate the forms of Vesuvius’s victims.  This technique is still in use today, with a clear resin now used instead of plaster because it is more durable, and does not destroy the bones.  This is one of the victims that were found beneath the ash.  You can see the terror on his face.  The skull and teeth were intact.

 This area wasn't open to the public, but I thought it looked like the mosaic building in the back was

pretty, so I tried to zoom in on it as best I could.

One of the streets:

With a close-up of one of the houses:

The theater:

Soccer field?

Amphitheater

Mount Vesuvius in the background:

 Just a cute house in the town:

 After we were done in Pompeii, we didn't have too much time before we needed to return to Rome, but Tom & Kathy were kind enough to drive us down a little part of the Amalfi coast.  The views were spectacular:

 Tom and Kathy

 Mark and I

I attempted to do a panorama shot.  We headed home the next day.  It was a great trip!