Pompei

Pompeii was a resort town for the rich and famous Romans. It was built in 6-7th century BC and had approximately 20,000 inhabitants. It was a wealthy town with lots of shops, restaurants, spas, arenas, amphitheaters and houses. It has beautiful frescoes, intricate tile work, and beautiful sculptures. Unknowingly, this town was sitting beneath one of the most deadly volcanoes in the world. Seismic activity was probably common in this area; a large earthquake (5-6 on Richter scale) damaged buildings in 62 AD. Then in 79 AD was the great eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The eruption may have lasted about 18 hours. During the first phase is eruption, the volcano vomited hot gas, ash, and pulverized pumice, which caved in roofs in Pompeii and toppled treesh. Although some inhabitants of the city were crushed during this phase, most were able to escape. Next came a series of “pyroclastic surges,” during which turbulent masses of hot ash and lava obliterated any remaining people and structures. Approximately 2,000 died. Pompeii was buried and preserved under a 7 meter deep layer of ash and pumice for the next 17 centuries. Archaeological excavations started to take place in the mid-17th century. In 1990s 2/3rds of the city had been excavated. Voids in the ash were left were left by decomposed organic material, these were filled with plaster leaving images of how the victims (men, women, children, dogs, bread, etc) were when the high-temperature pyroclastic flow hit them. We took the train to Pompeii and had an archaeological guide show us some of the highlights of the historic city. I was once again amazed at the magnificent cities the Roman’s built such a long time ago.