Wikimecum:Pompeii
Pompeii is located in the Campania region of Italy, near Naples. In AD 79, when Mount Vesuvius erupted, the evolving city was destroyed and buried by six meters of ash and volcanic rock. For 1700 years, the city was lost until 1748 when it was rediscovered. Since then, excavation efforts have given much enlightenment into life in a city at the height of the Roman Empire.
Pompeii is currently one of the most popular tourist destinations in Italy, with 2,571,725 visitors in 2007.
Getting to Pompeii from Venice
You should expect to pay approximately 100 euro for the train (round-trip) to get to Pompeii. We left Venice on a Friday night and arrived in Salerno at around 4:00 in the morning. We then switched trains and arrived in Pompeii at approximately 5:00 in the morning. To get back to Venice, we left Pompeii on Saturday evening, changed trains in Naples, and then arrived back in Venice on Sunday morning. This was a convenient method, as we were able to spend the full day in Pompeii exploring the city, and saved money by spending the night on the train rather than in a hostel.
What to do in Pompeii
While in Pompeii, we climbed Mount Vesuvius and then explored the ruins (gli scavi).
Climbing Mount Vesuvius
While in Pompeii, as we were not familiar with the city layout, we took a bus to from Piazza dell'Anfiteatro to Vesuvio and proceeded to climb to the top (I think it costs 5 Euros). The bus is easy to find. The best way I can describe it is just walk down what appears to be the main street when leaving the train station. The ride to reach the point from which you are able to climb is about 20 minutes and there are many beautiful sights that can be seen from the bus. The bus will then not be allowed to go any further and you will be able to climb to the top. It took about an hour to reach the top and about 45 minutes to descend. I would recommend doing this on a very clear day or in the afternoon, since when we were there in the morning, the views were considerably obscured by the clouds.
Gli Scavi
It is very easy to access the ruins, as they are directly across from the bus stop which one would take It would take weeks to really see everything there is to see in the ruins of Pompeii, considering it is an entire city, frozen in time. For this reason, I highly recommend buying a book to see some of the highlights as well as to read about much of the history of the city, mostly after you leave since you will most likely end up wandering aimlessly through the ancient city for a lot of the time. Seeing Pompeii is truly an incredible experience, as you are standing in the middle of what was an emerging city when it was destroyed. You are able to see real people, as they were when they died, and to see the looks of horror on their faces. Upon leaving the ruins, you are once again in the midst of a modern city and realize that the inhabitants are able to see what has happened in their past every day and realizing that this could possibly happen again.
References
- http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/05/italy?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront
- http://www.touring.it/Pdf/dossier/Musei2008.pdf
--Amdemartino 19:24, 10 January 2009 (UTC)