Naples/Pompeii, Italy: We are alongside in the harbor of Naples, and spent the morning walking around Pompeii. Pompeii is probably one of the biggest tourist attractions in Europe. The site is surrounded with parking lots, campgrounds, snack shops, souvenir stands, service stations, etc.
Having seemingly put down Pompeii, let me say I believe the site fully justifies all the tourist visitation. It is a wow! Pompeii is much larger and more complete than the Herculaneum site which we visited a week or so ago when here last.
Unlike Herculaneum, Pompeii had bodies captured intact in the ash. The bodies were modeled and then disintegrated within the mold. The archeologists poured plaster into the molds and then unearthed them as more-or-less intact models of the original people. It is spooky.
At least some of Pompeii’s buildings are impressive. We toured the home of a successful author who was wealthy enough to afford his own Roman bath. Understand, a Roman bath included a steam room, at least two pools, and perhaps a masseuse. In other words, it was a much bigger deal than our shower or tub.
The houses in Pompeii had running water brought by lead pipes. These gave people lead poisoning until the pipes became encrusted with calcium, after which the water they carried was no longer contaminated.
Houses had cisterns which caught rainwater to use for irrigation and washing, not for drinking and cooking. The cisterns worked in conjunction with the home’s atrium which caught rain and fed it to the cistern.
Pompeii has several quite grand indoor and outdoor spaces, including its forum. It must have been an impressive city before the eruption, it is no slouch now. It is one of Europe’s “must see” sites.
