Pompeii

Pompeii with Mount Vesuvius in the background:

Walking through Pompeii is like walking through an ancient Roman town that hasn’t been lived in, re-developed, or re-built in almost in 2,000 years… because it IS an ancient Roman town that hasn’t been lived in or re-built in 2,000 years. It is truly spectacular. The town was first settled in the 8th-6th century BC, and from the 4th Century BC, and it was a wealthy, thriving city/town of the Roman empire. In 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius erupted and covered the entire city in volcanic ash – up to 18-feet high. The entire city remained under ash until 1599 when it was re-discovered; and it has been and painstakingly excavated over the past century.

It was incredibly well-preserved under the ash. There are paintings, mosaics, tables, and even graffiti that have survived the Millennia. There is an extraordinary amount of information about the town because letters & texts describe life there, before (and during) the eruption.
The strange thing to ponder is that many of the Italian cities (and non-Italian cities throughout the Roman empire) looked exactly like this… Florence, Milan, Rome, etc (except Rome would’ve been much bigger/grander since it was the capital). But the style of the buildings – art & architecture would’ve been similar. All other cities have just been continually re-built throughout different empires, governments, and eras, and that’s most of what we see today – A lot of modern, renaissance, and medieval architecture – and in very few places, a couple of 2,000 year-old ruins.

It’s a town of considerable size – it took us 8 hours of reasonably-paced walking to cover it, and there were just a few areas we didn’t cover.

So, onto the pictures…
The entrance of the city contains the administration & community buildings. Most of these had 2 stories, and are not as well-preserved as most other parts of the city… But the buildings themselves show really advanced architecture.

This is the forum, surrounded by temples. The ground was “paved” in marble, which was an expensive material back then too.

This area also contained the Macellum, or market (the following 3 pictures). The circle of pillars in the middle held up taller wooden pillars and a wooden roof. There are stalls around it that had different wares, and there are still some frescoes on one wall. And some statues, they are everywhere.

This is one of two amphitheaters, where plays & theatrical works were performed:

Inside of the amphitheater:

Archways in the amphitheater:

Open area behind the amphitheatre, to accommodate theater-goers

Great Arena: this is where gladiators battled.
Exterior - it's by far the best-preserved arena we have seen.

Inside the arena – really weird to be on the ground where the action happened.

More archways, in the arena. Romans loved their archways…

Public Baths:

Close-up with some detail of the intricate carving in the baths:

Vineyards: The ancient Romans had very advanced wine-making methods. Botanists and archaeologists have worked together to re-plant the vines in exactly the same position as they were 2,000 years ago, using the position of fossilized plants to ensure accuracy.

These interesting, ornate fountains were in one of the vineyards.

The mosaic is exquisite and colorful – and sea shells were used and are still visible:

Cemetery/mausoleums: there was a separate part of the city where the dead were buried and memorialized:

Towers & walls:
This was the entrance to the city:

This is one of the towers, used to patrol and protect the city.

City walls surrounded the entire city:

So far, all of these buildings are public buildings or areas, and most of these are around the perimeter of the city, near the gates. The following pictures are of the living/working areas – private residences and shops.

Here's a perspective of a street and some shops & homes:

Most of these buildings were also 2 stories.

Here are a few examples of the incredible mosaic floors:

They liked dogs! The leash on this one shows that they kept them as pets:

This is actually part of the floor in the public bath:

Frescoes:

This is a Painting of Venus - it's outdoors and is somehow completely intact.

The painting of Venus is out in the garden, behind this building.

A few other paintings we saw:

There was graffiti back then, too! This example was of political nature – campaign messages - and it's on the side of a house.

This table was in the house of a wealthy merchant. (The top did not survive) –

Most bigger residences had a foyer that is beautiful and functional: There was a square hole in the roof where water would drain (and the roof was tilted inward so that water would drain inside), and there was a “tub” at the bottom – this was the main source of water (although there were aqueduct systems for public use).

They had beautiful courtyards, gardens, and water features:

Lunch counters – people would eat lunch at these lunch counters, where food was displayed & stored.

Ancient Roman roads:

After seeing a couple of other ancient Roman cities in Turkey (which are also incredible), Pompei holds its own as the best-preserved. You can actually imagine yourself in ancient times, wandering the streets and using the shops and buildings.