Preserved In Ash: The Ancient City Of Pompeii

stevieleigh (62)in #travel • 3 years ago

Mount Vesuvius from Napoli

Mount Vesuvius has erupted several times throughout history. The last time being between March 17th-23rd in 1944. However, we know Mount Vesuvius for the time it destroyed four cities, including -of course- Pompeii in the deadliest volcanic event in European history.

View of the volcano from inside Pompeii

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit Pompeii. The new city that stands is quite lovely and full of life. What's left of the ancient city however, is very interesting but certainly depressing.

Inside the theater

Outside the theater

A courtyard

The horrific event happened in the late summer or autumn (exact date of the event is unknown) in 79 AD. The eruption of the infamous volcano didn't just have an impact on Pompeii, but the cities of Herculaneum (modern day Ercolano), Oplontis and Stabiae as well. Mount Vesuvius let out a fatal cloud of gases and tephra, molten rock, pumice and hot ash at 1.5 million tons per second. These cities we buried in an insane, heavy amount of ash. The people and animals were buried...

My apologies if these are hard to look at.

There was a population of 20,000 people between Pompeii and Herculaneum alone. The remains of over 1500 people have been found at the two sites so far. I can't imagine how many more bodies have yet to be discovered between all four of the sites.

Homes, stores and other buildings.

Walking around Pompeii was fascinating, tiring but also saddening. The people and their cities were victims to such a catastrophic force of nature. Weirdly, there was so much there but yet so little left of the city and so much still to be uncovered. Both sides of the main street had nothing but skeletons of what once were homes and markets.

The Main Street

Off the main street

I loved all the art on the walls.

Whenever I visit places such as these, places that are just shells of what they were before, places that are now such important parts of history, my first thought is usually the same every time..."What was it like when this place was in full-bloom?"

If you want to see every last bit of the ruins, you definitely would need to set aside many hours of your day. When you think you are at the end, it just keeps going. Haha. :)

I took so many photos but I couldn't capture everything because my phone ran out of space but I am happy with what I did get and I'm happy to share it with you all.

I had to share this. Yes, that is penis art. Lol.