Today we went to Pompeii. The day started out with some excitement. We had booked a train in advance, but when we left our place to catch a bus to the train station, we found that the roads were closed all around our place for a parade (today is Italy’s Republic Day.). it started raining as we ran through the streets trying to get to where we could get a bus or a taxi. We eventually got a bus, but we missed our train and had to buy new tickets. When we got to Naples to change trains, we found that we had caught up to our original train!
When we arrived at Pompeii, we met with Dario, an archeologist who worked at Pompeii. It was really fascinating walking around with him, because he had so much information to share. We knew that Pompeii was buried in ash in 79CE, but there’s so much more to the story.
This is a wine bar – there are over 150 in Ponpeii! Archeologists learned more (and confirmed theories) about traffic patterns in ancient Pompeii by looking at which way the wine bars were facing
They had stepping stones in the streets to keep your feet dry. Pompeii didn’t have sewers, so refuse was rinsed down the street all the time. Sidewalks and these stones kept pedestrians’ feet dry
Dario told us that all the water collection towers in Pompeii were the exact same height. Archeologists believe that this was intentional, so that water pressure would remain at a precise level. This pressure caused the calcium in the water to collect on the inside of the lead pipes, which prevented lead poisoning.
There is a ton of ancient graffiti in Pompeii. This was scratched into the wall by a prostitute, who was advertising her services in Greek. Even the lowliest members of society could read and write
There were a lot of people who got rich from the rebuilding of the town after the earthquake.
We asked what a tiny room like this was for…turns out it’s where prostitutes did their business
These rich people redid their Collins after the earthquake to reflect the current style
One researcher dug up the seeds from the garden, and even found the roots of the plants so she could recreate the garden exactly, with the right plants and arrangement.
This 3D looking mosaic floor was really cool. The house it was in was bombed pretty heavily in WWII (the allies thought that Pompeii was a storage site for weapons) but the floor survived.
It was so incredible to get a glimpse into what life was like 2000 years ago. Their engineering was impressive, and the artistry was breathtaking. We definitely want to come back someday and go to Herculaneum, a nearby town that was also preserved when Mount Vesuvius erupted.
Leave a Reply