Sunday November 12. Naples. 13.4 km.

 Today we got out of the city, taking a local train to Pompeii where we spent a good four hours back in a city, but this time an ancient one in ruins.  Pompeii surprises by its sheer size. It was an old city, founded around the 7th century BC. Many peoples shaped it, including Greeks, Etruscans, and Samnites (people from today’s southern Italy).  When the tyrant Sulla conquered the city in 89 BC, it became a Roman city. At the time of its destruction, in 79 AD when Mount Vesuvius erupted, there were between 11,000 and 20,000 people living here. Most managed to escape, but some were smothered by the huge quantities of hot ash.

Pompeii was a wealthy port city, and full of large elegant homes. There were probably around 5 slaves for each Roman, enabling the Roman citizens to live lives of leisure.

The city was walled.  Bricks were the main building materials, but all covered with a sturdy plaster and made to look like marble.  Stone was used too, especially the fairly easy to work tufa rock. The streets were laid out in straight lines, and the houses were all attached. There were many many shops, plus all the industries one could expect: we saw bakeries, a laundry and a tanner’s. I imagine that it looked somewhat like a country Italian town today, except way better organized with way more public buildings (forum, market, gyms, sports fields, administrative buildings, swimming pool, baths, arena, two theatres, many temples…)

Here are a few photos. It was a fairly rainy day, with a few patches of sunshine. Vesuvius was stubbornly hidden, but from a high point the sea was visible.

Looking towards the forum.

A typical street.

A pretty intact house. Wealthy houses all had an interior courtyard, usually with a small square pool.  Many also had a back garden for flowers and vegetables.

A dining room. Like most rooms, fairly small. Diners would  lie inclined on their side facing the “table” in the centre. What look like steps in the back were for water to cascade down and cool off the air around the diners.  Traces of lovely blue landscape paintings remain on the walls.

And here is the back wall of a small room used as a bedroom and a room for rest. A very large snake is winding its way up the tree trunk.

There was much we didn’t see, including several wealthy villas outside the city.  Saved for another trip!  As is so much still to see in Naples - castles, palaces, art galleries…  We are off to an island tomorrow, hopefully not in the rain!