Pompeii is in the Italian region of Campania, near Naples. Pompeii is close to the Bay of Naples. Other places in the area to visit are Capri and Sorrento. Today, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Italy, with approximately 2,500,000 visitors every year.
On August 24, 79 AD, the volcano Vesuvius erupted, buried the nearby town Pompeii in ash and soot, killing 20000 people, and preserving the city in its state from that fateful day. Pompeii is an excavation site and outdoor museum of the ancient Roman settlement. This site is considered to be one of the few sites where an ancient city has been preserved in detail - everything from jars and tables to paintings and people were frozen in time, yielding an unprecedented opportunity to see how the people lived two thousand years ago.
PLACE TO VISIT
House of the Vettii - Rich merchants home
House of the Faun - Another large house
Theater - Theater built in the hollow of a hill for acoustics, seated 5,000
Via dei Sepolcri - Long street with worn ruts from carts
Lupanar - An ancient brothel with pornographic frescoes.
The Temple of Vaspain - An altar at the center.
The Basilica - The most important building and served as the court house.
Storage Artifacts - like pots and people who did not escape the eruption.
Ground - You will see in the ground there are small tiles called cateyes. The moon’s light or candle light reflects off these tiles and gave light, so people could see where they were walking at night.
Bars and Bakeries - You will walk past where their bars and bakeries once existed. The bars had counters with three to four holes in them. They have water or other beverages available in the holes. The bakeries’ ovens look similar to the old brick stone oven.
Street - There are tracks for the carriages in the street for a smoother ride. There are also stone blocks in the street for pedestrians to step onto to cross the street. The sidewalks are higher than the modern sidewalk because the streets had water and waste flowing through them. The stone blocks in the street were also as high as the sidewalk, so people did not walk in the waste and water. The stone blocks were also used for what we now call speed bumps. When the carriages were going through the city, they were going fast.
Villa dei Misteri - A house with curious frescoes, perhaps of women being initiated into the Cult of Dionysus. Contains one of the finest fresco cycles in Italy, as well as humorous ancient graffiti.
Cameo Factory - Here is a cameo factory-where you can buy handcraft jewelry and souvenirs.
Garden of the Fugitives - at the south-east side where plaster casts of several victims (sadly, including children) are on display where they originally fell The plants in this garden have been reconstructed to match ancient growth, based on the study of plaster casts of plant roots.
Walk outside the City Gates to the Villa of the Mysteries, one of the greatest houses to come down to us from the ancient world. Even on a very hot day, it is worth the walk.
HOW TO REACH
By train - On the Circumvesuviana Napoli-Sorrento line it takes 30 to 40 minutes to get to Pompeii from either Naples or Sorrento. It should cost €1,80 to €3,20. Get off at "Pompei Scavi". At the station, you can leave your bags for €1,50 (collect by 7:00PM in summer, 6:00PM October to February), or leave them for free at the ruins (pick up by 7:20PM). The entrance to Pompeii is about 50m away from the station and there's a Tourist Information office further down the street. If you get off at "Pompei Sanctuario," instead of "Pompei Scavi," the walk through town is not very far; it's tiring but worthwhile.
By bus - SITA runs buses from Naples. The cost is the same as the train.
By boat - If you are on a cruise, you can set up an excursion to explore the ruins (bus transfer) and tickets and tour will be included. From the cruise boat a hydrofoil travels around the Bay of Naples to Capri, Sorrento and Pompeii (from Naples). A bus-shuttle will take you to the ruins where there is much to see.
