The rediscovery of Pompeii

The location of Pompei
Daily Life in Ancient Pompei
Pompei’s Early History
Pompei – A Snapshot of an Ancient Roman Town
Leading up to the Eruption of the Vesuvius
The rediscovery of Pompeii
Pompei Today

Thick layers of ash covered the two towns, Pompeii and Herculaneum, which were abandoned and eventually forgotten.

In 1738 Herculaneum was rediscovered by when the King of Naples, Charles of Bourbon, wanted to have a summer palace built.

Pompeii itself was found ten years later, although in reality Domenico Fontana had already discovered both towns when digging a new course for the Sarno river in 1599.

After the first excavations under Karl Weber several architects led the proceedings, but it was Giuseppe Fiorelli who realized that the voids with human remains in the layers of ash were spaces left by the decomposed bodies.

He devised a technique to inject plaster into the spaces and thus create the forms of Mount Vesuvius’ victims. Fiorelli’s technique is still in use, albeit with resin instead of plaster.

Some of the erotic frescoes are thought to have been reburied by Fontana in accordance with the prudish times he lived in.

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Pompei, Italy

Although there are good public transport connections to Pompei from Naples and even Rome, and the city can easily be visited as part of a day trip, it can also be an interesting idea to find hotel or bed and breakfast accommodation in Pompei itself and using that as a starting point. Please visit the Venere.com website for a list of Hotels in Pompei.

Pompei, the lost city

Pompei, south of Naples in the Campania region, used to be called the lost city, as it was covered for centuries after an eruption of the volcano Vesuvius in the year 79 A.D.

Pompei found

Pompei is, ironically, thanks to the 7 meter layer of ashes and lava that rained down upon it, well preserved, which has made it possible to see what a rich Roman town used to look like two thousand years ago. Pompei had become wealthy thanks to trade (over sea) and agriculture. The land was so bounteous that it was possible to harvest more than once per year. Pompei’s riches had already been found abundant enough to enable its citizens to rapidly rebuild the town after a previous earthquake.

Greek influences

Unlike in most other Italian cities, the street plan of Pompei was characterized by perfectly straight angles. This was a result of the fact that it was originally a Greek city.

Pompei’s excavations

The scavi (excavations) in Pompei show a.o. a Roman temple, a number of shopping streets with several bars, een bakery and the inevitable Roman amphitheatre. In many houses frescoes can still be seen. The bigger part of the household objects and other artifacts found during the excavations is displayed in the National Archeological Museum in Naples.

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