Pompeii & Vesuvius

Something we knew we wanted to do while in Italy was visit volcanoes. When Mom lived in Italy for a summer, she lived inside an extinct volcano and this is where Dad proposed to Mom, and while we'd hoped to take the kids to visit it outside of Naples, we learned that because it's a US Military Recreational base that the security has been heightened and unless we were sponsored by someone who would be with us during our visit, we would not be let in. While it would have been nostalgic for Mom and Dad, it didn't seem worth the risk of traveling a day to this area knowing that we most likely would be disappointed that we couldn't see anything. We focused our attention on Vesuvius and Pompeii as our kids have long been interested in this story. Our place in Sorrento was about a 30 minute train ride from Pompeii so we headed out in the morning to connect with the tour we had booked about a month earlier.

Our tour started with a hike up Mt Vesuvius, one of the world's most dangerous volcanoes, where we circled the crater and even descended into it a ways. The hike was fairly short compared to previous volcano hikes, but we were ok with that as we recognize that our physique has deteriorated on our trip as working out has been challenging for a variety of reasons. We certainly know that hiking Machu Picchu now would be far more challenging than it was at the start of our year abroad.

On our hike, our guide explained that there have been 18 eruptions since the big one. Most people know that Vesuvius erupted in epic fashion in the year 79 AD, covering the town of Pompeii so quickly that the people, animals and a good portion of the lifestyle has been preserved. We found seeing it in person and learning about it quite interesting. The volcano itself is significantly smaller than it was during the Roman times as the eruption literally blew its top off. Additionally, the last eruption in 1949 "plugged" the volcano, so today major tremors are not experienced, but scientists believe another significant explosion is not only possible but overdue - yikes! We learned that the people of Pompeii had no idea that Mt Vesuvius was a volcano or danger to them and the land on it was considered very valuable as it produced great harvests of grapes. When Mt Vesuvius erupted, it was the gases released that actually killed most of the people. It's estimated that those closest, who were likely working on the grape vines on the mountain itself, died in as quickly as half a second and everyone else within two minutes from when the explosion occurred - there literally was not time to run. It reminded us of one the lessons we learned in Jerusalem; that from an archaeological stance, a sudden, unexpected change to a people group provides the best opportunity to learn the about how they lived. Pompeii is the best known example of this, and a treasure-trove of insight into how the Romans lived.

Standing on top of Vesuvius

We made it! Inside the crater of Mt. Vesuvius!

In front of Mt Vesuvius' crater

Our guide creating smoke from the heat

Hiking back down

After a quick lunch we began our tour of the ancient city of Pompeii where we learned how it was laid out like a Greek city when it was founded in 7BC, it later became a Roman colony and a earthquake in 62AD caused much destruction. When Mt. Vesuvius exploded, it's estimated that roughly 12,000 people lost their lives. The city was covered in ash and forgotten. Approximately 400 years ago the city was making some changes to the aqueduct pipes, and this is how the ancient city was discovered! During WWII, the ruins experienced some damage from British bombing.

Streets of Pompeii

The layout of the city was interesting and the stones among the streets were raised to allow easier more cleanly passing for those walking, while still allowing sewer drainage and paths for horses and carts - we could see paths from the chariot wheels in the stone. The aqueduct system for water throughout the city was impressive as it was over 100km long and extended over the nearby city of Herculaneum (covered by lava during the explosion in 79AD) as well. The aqueducts provided water to over 43 public fountains throughout the city and some of them as well as the original pipes could still be seen. The largest home was roughly 3000 sq ft and we were able to tour a 2000 sq ft home owned by a baker who most likely had roughly 15-20 slaves living on the second floor, while his family lived on the first floor. The floor in the baker's house had a mosaic that showed their awareness of Egyptian life as it pictured the Nile River, hippos and alligators as well as other familiarity with animals such as peacocks and flamingos.

High stones (in the distance) & sidewalks separated waste
water from pedestrians, while leaving room for chariot wheels

Ancient Roman home

Preserved floor mosaic showing animals and the Nile River

The city had two amphitheaters, the larger one, seating between 4,000-5,000 visitors, was built originally for Greek theater, and still hosts performances today as they were getting it ready for Elton John next month. There were two wellness centers in Pompeii, these were social buildings used for bath houses, and consisting of pools - hot, then medium temperature, and finally cold, before relaxing outside to socialize. The men were highly regarded in Pompeii and had different sections in the bath houses than the women. These wellness centered had mosaic floors and arched ceilings to help with water condensation. We found it interesting to compare these buildings with Herod's bath houses we saw at Masada in Israel. The women in Pompeii used urine for washing clothes because of the ammonia in it - in fact animal and human urine was bottled and sold here!

In front of the bakery - the largest shop discovered in Pompeii - 92 loaves were discovered almost cooked!

Pompeii amphitheater

The Forum was the heart of the city and surrounded by the most important buildings. It had white marble sidewalks that shone in the moonlight as a type of illumination to allow people to see better in the dark.

Standing in the Forum of Pompeii

Because of the many frescos preserved on the walls, we were able to learn about the people of Pompei's values and what they were familiar with. There are images of papyrus from Egypt as well as phalic symbols expressing the people's superstitions and worship of pagan gods. Because Pompeii was covered in ash and not lava, we have a unique insight into the history of this ancient civilization, even down to scraps of seafood and figs that were preserved in the sudden destruction. Observing some of the plaster casts of people, it is difficult to not imagine the sudden horror that descended on them as though it were Armageddon itself, and of course one can't help but wonder of God's hand in it.