Ancient Napoli - Ercalano & Pompei

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When organising this trip, we noticed that the blog boards were full of every man and his dog expressing an opinion over which is better: Pompeii or Herculaneum.

Well we had the time, so we decided to over-expose ourselves to ancient Italia and visit both in the same day. Maybe not the wisest plan, as it ended up not really a question of which site was ‘better’ as they were both really different.

We visited Herculaneum in the early morning before the sun had really gotten some heat into it, and before the site had any other tourists in it. Apart from the odd school group or architecture students, the place was virtually deserted. It was amazing because all the buildings in Herculaneum are open to be explored and because the site is so much smaller it wasn’t as overwhelming - only 8 city blocks have been excavated due the fact it lies beneath 20 metres of volcanic material and modern day Naples. Interestingly though the city of Naples is systematically buying the land around the site and relocating the people who live above it, in a bid to uncover the whole city.

Pompeii was a different story. We arrived at the site along with 5 tourist bus’ worth of tourists which only added to the thousands of people already swarming over the sight. It was the middle of the afternoon by the time we arrived, and due to a combination of sunburn from the previous day, sheer exhaustion in a heat we’re not used to (damn UK has made us soft), and possibly too much of a good thing (having gone to Herculaneum only that morning) we really didn’t enjoy it as much as we could have.

Pompeii has been thoroughly excavated as it was buried under only 5 metres of pumice and ash as opposed to the 20 metres which buried Herculaneum, which means that there is a lot to see over a very large area (close to 150+ city blocks). We plodded along and saw the main sights of interest, but not sure our heart was in it.

Although Adam did thoroughly enjoy the erotic art in the brothel: the highlight, perhaps, of his Pompeii visit. (Adam says: yes.)

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Photos

Herculaneum
Buried in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius beginning on August 24, 79 AD

Still standing...
The interior of a house - the window coverings are original (2000 years old)

A bed that survived the inferno
Remnants of a bed frame found in the Casa del tramezzo di legno

Men's Baths
The once detailed and fine mosaic of the men's baths has been affected by the earth shifting during the eruption

Central Bath House - men's section
These are the shelves in an apodyterium, or changing room in the bath house. The partitioned shelves are for depositing togas.

Hercules with Minerva and Juno in the Collegio degli Augustali
Fresco depicting the myth of Hercules.

Adam enjoying the the Macca's of yester year
Acutally its called the Thermopolium

The mosaic floor of the apodyterium in the Terme femminili
This is the dressing room in the female section of the Urban Spa. It has seating and shelves for stowing clothes and belongings (like togas!).

Bottega connected to the Casa del Mosaico di Nettuno e Anfritrite
This is the wine shop belonging to the owner of the House of Neptune and Aphrodite. It is one of the best preserved shops in Herculaneum and is still full of goods that were preserved by the hardened mud and contains many wine amphorae on specially designed wooden shelves in the back.

Comments

[aaditilathi]

The House of Neptune And Amphitrite
Wow! These pictures seems very interesting and can insist anyone to explore this place atleast once. The creative art itself is speaking the hard work of the artist who have made these things. http://www.historicaltravelguide.com/the-house-of-neptune-and-amphitrite.html

[Ancient Pompeii]

Ancient Pompeii
I was not aware of Pompeii till i visited www.traveleurope360.com, but heard lot from my friends who are in Europe. After reading Ancient Pompeii, now i got some idea about it. One thing i like about Pompeii is that you can get idea Roman structures. I am sure this will be a wonderful place to visit. Will definitely visit this place.