On the first day of being in Italy, we, of course, went to explore Pompeii. We did a guided tour, which was by Askos Tour, and it was fabulous! Out tour guid was an Archeologist, and he was able to tell us a lot of information about the excavation and finding of Pompeii, which was very cool.
Here are some intreating facts about Pompeii.
- How It Was Preserved
- Because of the eruption of Vesuvius, the roman city of Pompeii was destroyed. Technically, the city was not actually destroyed, it was only buried and damaged. When Vesuvius erupted, it spewed a lot of ash and pumice into the air, which then came down onto Pompeii. Though it made the air toxic to breath, it was a great preserver of the buildings (except for the second levels). Pompeii was buried under 15 meters of ash and rock, which suffocated the people living there and covering the whole city. This has preserved the buildings for thousands of years, leaving them in very good condition for us modern humans to check out.
- The Casts of the People Who Died
- With the city being covered in ash and rock, all the people were also covered by that ash and rock, leaving them also preserved. When archeologists were excavating Pompeii, they came across cavity’s, which they then carefully filled with plaster, and took out. This then showed very lifelike impressions of the people who died in the eruption. These showed what people were doing when the eruption was happening.
- Mosaics, Tiling, and Paintings
- Now knowing the people themselves, we get to look at their life and culture. Pompeii is renowned for its (kind of but a little faded) colorful mosaics, tiling, and paintings on the walls and floor of the ancient roman houses. The paintings showed anything from scenes of the gods they worshiped to the food they ate. The tiling mosaics were usually floor decorations, but there were sometimes intricate pictures on walls.
- The Forum and Temples of the Gods
- The Forum was basically the living room of ancient Pompeii. Its where people gathered to hear announcements and important speeches. It is also where the people of Pompeii shopped at the vendors and stalls in the square. It was surrounded by big government buildings and temples of the gods. Since the temples were there, that was a common place to come and worship gods.
- Baths and Waterhouses
- Pompeii had a public bath system, where you could go and wash in public bath tubs. The men and women’s areas were separated, but the bathhouses were a central part of the social life of Pompeii. The houses had beautiful marble and mosaics. There were different kinds of baths you could choose from; you could steam in the hot baths, relax in the warm baths, or chill in the cold baths.
- The Streets and Layout
- The streets were a block layout, with vendors along the sides. Pompeii did not have a sophisticated sewer system, so all of the nasty stuff that should go through pipes was dumped put into the streets. To prevent people from just tramping through feces the whole day, there were raised sidewalks for people to walk on, and in the middle of the street all of the “stuff” went in a channel in the middle. There were then giant stones that people could walk across to get to the other sidewalk, now “solving” the problem of sewer im the streets! 🙂
- Graffiti and Writing
- Mostly we only think of graffiti as guys with spray paint cans spraying giant colorful letters on concrete walls, but it was not always like that. The ancient romans also did graffiti, bur it was in latin and chiseled into stone. A little different, but the same idea. There was not a lot of writing recovered because it mostly burned with all of the ash, but we can see about life through pictures and mosaics.
- Theaters and Amphitheaters
- Pompeii’s theaters and amphitheaters was huge, open, and with stone seating. The amphitheater in Pompeii was a mainly a space for gladiatorial combats, animal hunts, and circus. These theaters and amphitheaters not only served as places of entertainment but also for community gatherings.
- The Continual Excavation
- Pompeii has been an ongoing excavation endeavor, of carefully digging through volcanic ash and debris. After its rediscovery in the 18th century, archaeologists and researchers have meticulously worked on excavating the city’s ruins. Though there are challenges of natural decay and modern development, they still work on excavating, finding out more about Pompeii in the process. Through lots of technology and hard work, archaeologists continue to uncover the past.
Those were some things I thought were very interesting about Pompeii, but I would still recommend going and seeing it for yourself!