Pompeii4 Jul 2008
|
|
Entrance to the Pompeii ruins
The main square ("forum") of Pompeii, with the Temple of Zeus to...
The royal baths
One of the homes, with mosiac tilework in the foreground, and original...
Ravi --
The ruins of Pompeii lived up to its reputation.
Buried by the sudden eruption of Mount Vesuvius during ancient Roman times (1st century C.E., almost 2000 years ago) the city was pristinely preserved for millenia until finally rediscovered and excavated a few centuries ago. As a result, many of the structures, statues, monuments, temples, household items (and casts of people buried alive within ash and lava) survived to tell the story about this ancient world.
Tim and I took a local comuter train from Naples to Pompeii, only half an hour away, with all our stuff as we would then continue south to Sorrento and on to the Amalfi Coast (see next post).
I loved exploring the ruins as the story of ancient Rome really came alive from the ruins that remain: so many homes partially intact, some with their stoves and bakeries; temple structures; grand mosiac tilework; the grounds of the main square. The royal baths still had their original wall paintings and marble baths.
