Pompeii and Herculaneum in July, 2002
Pompeii was a town of approximately 10,000 people.
Covered by ash
and pumice stones (which totally cover the ground today), Pompeii
was buried until 1592.
Excavations began in 1763 and restoration
continues today.
Some images of floors.
Their floors were gorgeous, covered with mini-tiles.
Some images of The Large Theatre
And the Ampitheatre
Some inside views of the houses.
I was amazed at how few of the walls were white. Most of the walls
were colored with fairly dark colors.
It must have been a beautiful site!
The inhabitants.
Casts were made of many bodies uncovered at Pompeii.
Here is the face of a victim at his time of death.
Villa de Misteri
Set outside the city walls, it was also buried during the 79 A.D.
eruption.
It really has the best frescoes left in Pompeii.
Herculaneum
Covered by a huge mudslide in 79 A.D., the houses are far more complete
then at Pompeii.
Discovered when a basement was being excavated for a new building,
Herculaneum has only been excavated over a few blocks.
It is not known how far under the current city, the ancient city of
Herculaneum goes (though ancient records describe it as a small
town).
Particularly if you are limited for time, Herculaneum has far more to
offer than Pompeii. There are more houses with roofs, more floors with
tiles, and many more walls that have retained their colored plaster.
I always thought Roman-era pillars were white. But most of them were
colored.
It is really hard to imagine, from the ruins, how beautiful these
cities must have been.
