Pompeii :: Amazing Images That Will Impress You

Pompeii or Pompei? Both spellings are correct. As in Bruges + Brugge in Belgium :: the first is the English version, the second is the Italian version. So in this post I’ll be mixing them up just to keep you on your toes. HA!

On my first visit to Naples I hadn’t really considered first visiting Pompeii. I knew it would be mind-blowing to see this city which was buried beneath meters of burning ash during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79A.D. But I decided to forge ahead. I wasn’t quite prepared for what I was about to witness. The tour guide I had was incredible. It’s actually unfathomable to me how someone can retell the haunting story of Pompeii over + over again. It literally gave me goosebumps.

I was able to take a ton of pictures of this the most compelling of Europe’s archaeological sites :: the ruins of Pompei :: a stark reminder of the destructive forces that lie deep inside Vesuvius.

Just images in this post. I’ve left out (on purpose) images of the people that were found. I wasn’t prepared to see that. So I didn’t think you would be either.

It amazes me to think of all the work it took to remove the 5 meters of ashes that buried this area. I didn’t realize that Pompei stood undiscovered for 1600 years. Normally structures would not have lasted for posterity but due to the fact that it was ashes covering it without any source of light hitting it most everything that wasn’t destroyed (by the weight of the ashes such as the rooftops) was still left standing + in tact.

During the first phase of uncovering Pompeii beginning in 1748 excavation was carried out essentially in order to find art objects. Many artifacts considered suitable for the private collection of the Bourbon king Charles III (1759-1788) were removed + transported to Naples where they remain to this day :: displayed in the Museo Nazionale. And according to what I read the last phase took place in 2003. From start to finish I counted approximately 13 excavation directors that have headed up restoration projects throughout the 255 years it has taken. Unbelievable.

Check out the tours available in Pompeii

Although I was ambivalent about visiting Pompei in the very beginning I’m so glad I did. Morose as it was to recall what happened to that area due to Mt. Vesuvius which can be seen standing oh so majestically less than 10 km away, most Pompeians did survive (1500-2000 out of 20,000 residents lost their lives) perhaps due to alerts from previous warning signs.

Again I’m glad I visited Pompeii. It was an amazing city + I pray that Vesuvius :: the most dangerous volcano in the world :: will never cause this kind of damage ever again.

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