Pompeii

Pompeii was an ancient city buried for almost 1,700 years after the devastating volcanic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius on August 24th, 79 A.D. Coincidentally, a day after the festival to the Roman god of fire. However, there is some controversy on the exact date, which is based on written witness accounts.

It is hard to believe that after such a catastrophic disaster so many of the buildings and paintings remained intact as we explore the streets of Pompeii. You can make out some of the temples, bars, brothels, and public baths as you navigate around the large cobblestone roads. You ponder what life was like in a thriving city of the first century and what they must have thought as fire and ash rained down from the volcano onto their homes and families. We stumble upon perhaps the most eerie part of Pompeii, the remains of victims. Excavators discovered spaces in the debris, left by the bodies, and poured plaster into the voids creating molds of their last moments. Still to this day you can see bones and teeth in the molds.

There were several indicators forecasting the instability of Mt. Vesuvius, from mild earth tremors to the destructive earthquake in 62 A.D. The earthquake (supposedly a 7.5 on the Richter scale) shattered the town. It was discovered that the city was still rebuilding when Mt. Vesuvius erupted. The explosion in 79 A.D. lasted over 24 hours, burying the city under 60 feet of ash and rubble. Even those who escaped to the shores asphyxiated from toxic air, killing an estimated 20,000 people. Since then there have been several other eruptions, the last one in 1944, but none as disastrous as 79 A.D.

One would think that residing beneath an active volcano would be a poor place to live, but it did have its advantages. The huge land mass provided protection from invaders and the valley area was fertile for growing crops. And in all fairness to the early settlers, the volcano had been inactive for an extended period of time. However, today, it is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world due to the 3 million people residing in the area and earning yet another title, the most densely populated volcanic region in the world. However, volcanologist are continuously monitoring for seismic activity, and are able to predict an eruption weeks in advance, so don’t let all these titles scare you from a visit!