Pompeii is an ancient Roman city in southern Italy near Naples. As you know, Pompeii was buried under a multi-meter layer of ash during the eruption in 79. Today, the city is a huge museum under open sky, inscribed on the List since 1997 world heritage UNESCO.

The city was founded by the Oscans in the 6th century. The name of the city comes from the Oscan pumpe - five, since the city was formed by the merger of five smaller settlements. In Roman times, the division into five electoral districts was preserved. Another version of the origin of the name is Greek, from the word pompe - a triumphal procession.

According to this legend, the city was founded by Hercules, who, after the victory over Gerion, solemnly walked through these places. IN different time the city was owned by the Greeks, Etruscans and Samnites. In 310 B.C. Pompeii became an ally of the Roman Republic as an autonomous self-governing city.

In 90-88 BC. the city participates in an uprising against Rome.

In 89 B.C. Consul Sula took the city, limited its autonomy and made it a colony of Rome. The city occupied an important place on the trade route between and southern Italy. Many noble Romans had villas in Pompeii. A high-profile event was the massacre between the inhabitants of Pompeii and Nuceria in 59 during the gladiatorial games. The usual fight between the fans turned into a bloodbath. As a result, games were banned in Pompeii for 3 years.

Tickets

Entrance ticket to the archaeological complex of Pompeii costs 15 euros. For visitors under 18 years old - admission is free, but you need to show a document confirming your age.

  • We advise you to buy a ticket in advance online only at the official ticket offices ticketone.it
    See registration on the site.

How to get from Naples on your own

You can get to Pompeii on your own from Naples, by bus or by a rented car. We recommend options with public transport(in the south of Italy it goes according to mood and not regularly), only for the most experienced travelers with a margin of time and a great desire to save money. Let's consider in detail all the methods:

By rented car

If you are traveling through the small towns of Italy on your own, then you can come to Pompeii by private transport - of the independent options, it is the most convenient. Parking near the archaeological area will cost approximately 5 euros per hour. Read about the features of car rental in Italy and choose the best option on our website

  • You will need:

By train

In Naples, Napoli Porta Nolana and Napoli P. Garibaldi stations run direct trains Circumvesuviana (literally translated "Around Vesuvius") - of the options, public transport is the only one that we can recommend. Here is a link to the schedule. You need to get off at the station Pompei Scravi Villa dei Misteri- It is located almost next to the ticket office. Drive approximately 30 minutes.

The ticket can be bought in advance online at the box office ots.eavsrl.it/web/public/ots/ticket/index

Choose the Napoli-Sorrento line and a ticket to Villa Misteri, date and number of passengers. Click Avanti. Please note that the site is also available in English, the switch on the right is the British flag.

Trains depart in the morning from 09:06 and 11:36.

To visit Pompeii, you need to allocate at least 2 hours. Also on this line you can get to. From Pompeii back to Naples, the train leaves at 17:18, a round-trip ticket costs 11 euros, there are no discounts for children.

Trenitalia companies depart from Naples Central Station (Napoli Centale) in the direction of Pompei Station approximately every 30 minutes. The ticket costs 2.80 euros one way. If the train arrives on schedule and there are no stops, the travel time will be 38 minutes. Be prepared for frequent stops, proximity to gypsies and various beggars.

The station is located about 3 kilometers from the entrance to the archaeological park, so it is rational to wait for bus 004 (possibly N50) and take it 3 stops.

Google advises to look at the schedule on the website of the official carrier http://www.fsbusitaliacampania.it, but, for example, in the schedule of bus 4, I do not see the Mazzini stop. Apparently it's easier to ask the locals on arrival, they should help. We will be grateful if someone shares their adventure experience in the comments.

By bus

According to Google, archaeological complex SITAsud's direct buses N5000 and N5020 run relatively regularly from Naples - I do not recommend this option, since the carrier's website does not really have a schedule or prices. To complete the picture, consider this method.

The Via Ferraris Galileo bus stop in Naples is located about a kilometer from the Napoli Centrale station.

Bus tickets should cost 10 euros, you can buy at the following addresses:

  • BAR ETTORE, PIAZZA GARIBALDI 95
  • Inside Napoli Centrale station look for EDICOLA NUMBER ONE HUDSON NEWS
  • ARPANET, corso Arnaldo Lucci, 163
  • BIGLIETTERIA NAPOLI CAPOLINEA, PIAZZALE IMMACOLATELLA VECCHIA 1
  • BAR DEL PORTO, VIA C OLIVARES ANG. VIA CAMPO D'ISOLA 26
  • BAR TIRAMISU', Napoli - Corso Lucci

What to see

Here are the sights of Pompeii that are recommended to visit during the tour:

  1. Temple of Apollo - one of the oldest temples ancient city dedicated Greek god Apollo. The first mention of the shrine dates back to the eighth century BC, which, however, is confirmed by archaeological excavations. Now we can only imagine and speculate, but most likely there was an altar on the site of the current ruins, and only after a hundred or two hundred years (they were in no hurry to build before) the main building was built. To date, only two of the majestic colonnade containing 28 columns have survived. Also, two millennia later, in the inner niches of the temple, we can observe frescoes with scenes from the Trojan War.
  2. Refugee Garden
  3. Great Palestra
  4. Temple of Jupiter
  5. Amphitheater
  6. Street of Abundance
  7. Thermae
  8. House of Venus in the Shell
  9. Thermopolia
  10. Bolshoi and Maly Theater
  11. Gladiator Barracks Triangular Forum
  12. Lupanar
  13. Forum
  14. Eumachia building
  15. Temple of Vespasian
  16. Market
  17. House of the Faun
  18. House of the Small Fountain
  19. basilica

Visiting architectural monuments with a good guide will allow you to immerse yourself in the ancient world for a while and touch its secrets.

↘️🇮🇹 USEFUL ARTICLES AND SITES 🇮🇹↙️ SHARE WITH YOUR FRIENDS

Agree that there are places in the world that you want to visit no matter what .. One of these places for me was the ancient city of Pompeii in Italy.

And in today's article I will tell you a lot of interesting things about the city of Pompeii, about what is invented and exaggerated and about what is really shocking, we will walk (video at the end of the article) through the streets, we will discover secrets that you could collect for a long time on Runet , and now you can find out from my article. It will be informative and interesting, pleasant reading and viewing.

Pompeii today photo

Pompeii destroyed the volcano

Perhaps this is the most famous tragedy in the world associated with a volcano, so it’s no secret to anyone that it was Mount Vesuvius that caused the death of the city of Pompeii. But only around this story there are a lot of legends and exaggerations, which we will understand along the way ...

Volcanic eruption in Pompeii

In fact, Pompeii is far from the crater, so I understand the inhabitants of the city, who found it difficult to believe that the consequences of a natural disaster could take their lives. Moreover, people did not know such a thing as a volcanic eruption and did not understand the danger of such a neighborhood.

What does Pompeii mean in translation?

Pompei - just like that Italian word was the name of the city, which was founded in the 6th century BC by Osci (ancient Italian people). The city was formed as a result of the union of five settlements.

Pompeii where is located:

Pompeii location relative to Vesuvius

If you pay attention to the map above, you will see that Vesuvius is located between Pompeii and Napoli (the city of Naples), so the tragedy that claimed the lives of the city of Pompeii in 79 could have done the same to the inhabitants of Naples. And judging by the historical chronicles, it not only should but could, since the direction of the wind played a big role in the fact that the eruption took place on Pompeii. Usually the wind blew towards Naples, but on this particular day, everything was different.

Pompeii how to get from Naples

The distance between cities is less than 25 km. You can get there in many ways, ranging from a taxi or car rental to the cheapest one - an electric train. We are familiar with this train firsthand, as we rode it from Sorrento to Naples. The route just involves a stop in the city of Pompeii.

Further in the section of sights of the city of Pompeii, I posted a photo of one of the main streets. These streets are remarkable for many nuances, ranging from high curbs to strange infantry crossings. In the photo, as you understand, this cannot be depicted, so again I suggest you see and hear everything in the video.

Many tourists, having arrived in Pompeii, are in a hurry to see a small house with a strange name Luponarium. This is a public house of that time. I don’t even know how to explain such a rush of tourists in this direction ... Perhaps this is due to the fact that, according to one version, Pompeii did not die by accident and the volcanic eruption was God’s punishment for the depraved lifestyle of its inhabitants, who indulged in love joys too much and lost true values ​​... After such legends, the tourist can not wait to see what this depravity was, because of which he died whole city.. As for me, these are just tricks to lure tourists and exaggerated stories, because, you must admit that at all times and in all cities of the world there are such establishments and there are those who visit them regularly, but this does not mean that on they need to be cursed and natural disasters. The only thing I agree with is that many tourists are simply interested in seeing what brothels were like in ancient times. In order not to torment you in expectations, I tell and show the main thing (the rest is on the video).

Lupanar photo

The photo below is an image on the wall of a lupanarium. There are many such images here (above eye level along the entire perimeter of the corridor inside). It's not just depraved pictures - it's a menu. Well, yes, the menu, because if you come to a restaurant, then you have to choose from what they are ready to offer you, and so, sorry for frankness, but everything is the same here: you choose how you want to indulge in love pleasures from pictures.

The building of the lupanaria is small. In the middle there is a corridor with a menu, and on the sides are rooms with stone beds, on which everything happened. In addition to the fact that the beds are made of stone, there is another striking feature here - the length of the beds is no more than 170 cm. This is because the height of people at that time rarely exceeded 160 cm. Yes, this is interesting) For me personally, this was the most interesting in our visit to the luponarium, the rest is more interesting for those who have something to compare an institution of this kind with.

Pompeii people in ashes

When you walk around the city, there is no feeling of celebration and fun, because you initially understand that you are walking along the streets, along which people ran in agony, who suffered death. Thanks to the voids that were discovered during the excavations of the city, it was possible to restore the poses to which people died and even the expressions of their faces, disfigured by horror. Behind bars on one of the main squares, finds are exhibited as museum exhibits, from which goosebumps go. For example, this figure of a boy who curled up in the element of hopelessness and died here. On the right in the photo you see a bowl that is now filled with coins, but I didn’t throw it over the lattice fence, because, to be honest, this idea jars me ... I don’t know for what purpose this bowl was installed next to this poor young man, but I don't like the way tourists adapted it at all. I am for the tradition of throwing coins into fountains, but people, this is not a fountain, this is the face of death and a city in which 2,000 people died ... Why are you throwing coins? Do you want to come back here? Or is it charity for a dead child? Excuse me for being emotional, but this is blasphemy .... A show that I support the masses. I did not support him, but you decide for yourself, but just be aware of why you are sticking your hand through the bars and trying to get a coin into this bowl ...

Pompeii photos from excavations

Archaeologists continue their work tirelessly and another quarter of the way to explore the city has not been completed. Maybe new finds will surprise us and open up new facets of the life of the city, we will look forward to it.

pompeii finds

In addition to figures of people, there are figures of dead animals, as well as dishes and interior items of that time.

After visiting the city of Pompeii, we went to Villa Mystery, which recently opened after restoration. It is truly a great pleasure to see one of the richest and most beautiful houses that has preserved stunning art and luxurious interiors to this day. I will not describe Villa in the article, but I propose to finish and watch a video that will answer questions not covered in the article.

I really enjoyed our visit to the city and I am very grateful to our guide, who wished to remain behind the scenes, but who plunged us into wonderful world With interesting history of which we have become a part.

See you on the pages of the AVIAMANIA website and the AVIAMANIA YouTube channel.

Pompeii video

What do we know about the ancient city of Pompeii? History tells us that once this prosperous city died in an instant with all the inhabitants under the lava of an awakened volcano. In fact, the history of Pompeii is very interesting and filled with big amount details.

Foundation of Pompeii

Pompeii is one of the oldest Roman cities located in the province of Naples in the Campagna region. On the one hand, the coast (which was previously called Kumansky), and on the other, the Sarn River (in ancient times).

How was Pompeii founded? The history of the city tells that it was founded by the ancient Oski tribe in the 7th century BC. These facts are confirmed by the fragments of the temple of Apollo and the Doric temple, whose architecture corresponds to the period when Pompeii was founded. The city stood just at the intersection of several paths - to Nola, Stabiae and Kuma.

Wars and submission

The first harbinger of impending disaster was an earthquake that occurred on February 5, 63 BC.

Seneca in one of his writings noted that since Campania was a seismically active zone, such an earthquake is not uncommon for it. And earthquakes happened before, but their strength was very small, the inhabitants simply got used to them. But this time, expectations exceeded all expectations.

Then in the three neighboring cities - Pompeii, Herculaneum and Naples - buildings suffered greatly. The destruction was such that over the next 16 years, the houses could not be fully restored. All 16 years there were active restoration works, reconstructions, cosmetic repairs. Also, the plans included the construction of several new buildings, for example, the Central Baths, which could not be completed until the day of the death of Pompeii.

The death of Pompeii. The first day

The inhabitants tried to restore Pompeii. The history of the death of the city indicates that the catastrophe began in 79 BC, in the afternoon, August 24, and lasted 2 days. The eruption of what was until then thought to be a dormant volcano destroyed everything. Then, under the lava, not only Pompeii perished, but also three more cities - Stabiae, Oplontia and Herculaneum.

In the afternoon, a cloud appeared over the volcano, consisting of ash and steam, but no one special attention did not pay. A little later, a cloud covered the sky over the entire city, and ash flakes began to settle on the streets.

The tremors coming from underground continued. Gradually, they intensified to such an extent that carts overturned, finishing materials crumbled from houses. Along with the ashes, stones began to fall from the sky.

The streets and houses of the city were filled with suffocating sulphurous fumes, many people simply suffocated in their homes.

Many tried to leave the cities with valuables, while others who were unable to leave their property died in the ruins of their homes. The products of the volcanic eruption overtook people both in public places and outside the city. But still, most of the inhabitants were able to leave Pompeii. History confirms this fact.

The death of Pompeii. Second day

The next day, the air in the city became hot, the volcano itself erupted, destroying all living things, all buildings and property of people with lava. After the eruption, there was a lot of ash that covered the entire city, the thickness of the ash layer reached 3 meters.

After the catastrophe, a special commission arrived at the scene of events, which stated the "death" of the city and that it could not be restored. Then it was still possible on what was left of the streets former city, to meet people who were trying to find their property.

Along with Pompeii, more cities perished. But they were discovered only thanks to the discovery of Herculaneum. This second city, which was also at the foot of Vesuvius, did not die from lava and ash. After the eruption, the volcano, like the affected cities, was covered with a three-meter layer of stones and ash, which hung menacingly like an avalanche that could come down at any moment.

And soon after the eruption went pouring rain, which carried away a thick layer of ash from the slopes of the volcano and the water column with dust and stones fell directly on Herculaneum. The depth of the stream was 15 meters, so the city was buried alive under the stream from Vesuvius.

How Pompeii was found

Stories and stories about the terrible events of that year have long been passed down from generation to generation. But after a few centuries, people lost the idea of ​​where the dead city of Pompeii was located. The history of the death of this city gradually began to lose facts. People lived their lives. Even in those cases when the remains of ancient buildings were found by people, for example, by digging wells, no one could even think that these were parts of the ancient city of Pompeii. The history of excavations began only in the 18th century and is indirectly connected with the name of Maria Amalia Christina.

She was the daughter of King August III of Saxony, who left the Dresden court after her marriage to Charles of Bourbon. Charles was king of the Two Sicilies.

The current queen was in love with art and looked around the halls of the palace, parks and other possessions with great interest. And one day she drew attention to the sculptures that were previously found before the last eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Some of these statues were found by chance, while others - at the suggestion of General d'Elbeuf. Queen Mary was so struck by the beauty of the sculptures that she asked her husband to find new ones for her.

Vesuvius last erupted at that time in 1737. During this incident, part of its top flew into the air, the slope was left bare. Since the volcano had not been active for a year and a half, the king agreed to start searching for sculptures. And they started from the place where the general had once finished his search.

Search for statues

Excavations took place with great difficulty, since it was necessary to destroy a thick (15 meters) layer of hardened lava. For this, the king used special tools, gunpowder, the power of workers. In the end, the workers stumbled upon something metallic in the artificial shafts. So three large fragments of giant bronze horses were found.

After that, it was decided to seek help from a specialist. For this, the Marquis Marcello Venuti, who was the keeper of the royal library, was invited. Further, three more marble statues of Romans in togas, the body of a bronze horse, as well as painted columns were found.

Discovery of Herculaneum

At that moment, it became clear that there would be more to come. The royal couple, arriving at the excavation site on December 22, 1738, examined the discovered stairs and an inscription stating that a certain Rufus built the Theatrum Herculanense theater at his own expense. Experts continued excavations, because they knew that the theater means the presence of the city. There were a lot of statues that the water current brought to the back wall of the theatre. This is how Herculaneum was discovered. Thanks to this find, it was possible to organize a museum, which had no equal at that time.

But Pompeii was at a shallower depth than Herculaneum. And the king, after consulting with the head of his technical detachment, decided to postpone the excavations, taking into account the notes of scientists regarding the location of the city of Pompeii. History has marked all memorable events with the hands of scientists.

Pompeii excavations

So, the search for Pompeii began on April 1, 1748. After 5 days, the first fragment of the wall painting was found, and on April 19, the remains of a man, from whose hands several silver coins rolled out. It was the center of the city of Pompeii. Unfortunately, not realizing the importance of the find, the experts decided that they needed to look elsewhere, and filled up this place.

A little later, an amphitheater and a villa were found, which was later called the House of Cicero. The walls of this building were beautifully painted and decorated with frescoes. All art objects were seized, and the villa was immediately filled back.

After that, for 4 years, the excavations and the history of Pompeii were abandoned, attention shifted to Herculaneum, where a house with the Villa dei Papiri library was found.

In 1754, experts again returned to the excavations of the city of Pompeii, to its southern part, where an ancient wall and the remains of several graves were found. Since then, the excavations of the city of Pompeii have been actively undertaken.

Pompeii: an alternative history of the city

Today, there is still an opinion that the year of the death of Pompeii is a fiction based on a letter that allegedly describes the volcanic eruption to Tacitus. Here questions arise about why in these letters Pliny does not mention either the names of the cities of Pompeii or Herculaneum, or the fact that it was there that the uncle of Pliny the Elder lived, who died in Pompeii.

Some scholars refute the fact that the catastrophe happened precisely in 79 BC, due to the fact that in various sources you can find information about 11 eruptions that occurred in the period from 202 to 1140 AD (after the incident that destroyed Pompeii). And the next eruption dates only to 1631, after which the volcano remained in active state up until 1944. As you can see, the facts show that the volcano, which was actively active, fell asleep for 500 years.

Pompeii in the modern world

The history of the city of Herculaneum and the history of Pompeii remain very interesting today. Photos, videos and various scientific materials can be found in the library or the Internet. Many historians are still trying to unravel the mystery of the ancient city, to study its culture as much as possible.

Many artists, including K. Bryullov, in addition to their other works, depicted the last day of Pompeii. The story is that in 1828 K. Bryullov visited the excavation sites and even then made sketches. In the period from 1830 to 1833, his artistic masterpiece was created.

Today the city has been restored as much as possible, it is one of the most famous monuments of culture (along with the Colosseum or Venice). The city has not yet been fully excavated, but many buildings are available for inspection. You can walk along the streets of the city and admire the beauty, which is more than 2000 years old!

Perhaps everyone knows about the eruption of Vesuvius in 79, and the death of the city of Pompeii. The layers of ash and magma that covered Pompeii preserved entire houses, not to mention trees, people, and animals. Now it is possible not only to see what the same city of Pompeii looked like 2000 years ago, but also to reconstruct the course of a 19-hour volcanic eruption. However, far from everything is still known about what happened on that distant August day during the reign. Thanks to modern science scientists put forward more and more new versions about the true causes of the terrible tragedy.

The first harbinger of disaster was an earthquake in 63. It turned the vicinity of Vesuvius into a desert and destroyed part of Pompeii. Over time, the passions subsided, the fear passed, the city was rebuilt again. No one could have imagined that an even more terrible fate awaited people.

Vesuvius volcano eruption

It all started at one o'clock on the 24th of August. With a terrible roar, the top of the volcano opened up, a column of smoke rose above it and clouds of ash flew, which could even reach the regions of Rome. A real downpour of stones and ash fell from the sky with noise and roar, eclipsing the sun. Frightened people fled the city. Then lava flows poured out of the volcano. The city of Herculaneum, closest to Vesuvius, was flooded by avalanches of mud formed from ash, water and lava. Rising, they filled the whole city with themselves, flowing through windows and doors. Almost no one managed to escape.


The neighboring city of Pompeii did not see mud. At first, clouds of ash fell on him, which seemed to be easy to shake off, but then pieces of porous lava and pumice, several kilograms each, began to fall. In the first hours, perhaps, quite a lot of residents managed to leave the city. However, by the time most people realized what was in store for them, it was already too late. Sulfur fumes descended on the city, making it difficult to breathe. Citizens died either under the blows of falling lava, or simply suffocated.

After 48 hours, the sun shone again. However, the city of Pompeii had ceased to exist by that time. Within a radius of 80 km, everything was destroyed. Lava, solidifying, again turned into stone. The ashes were carried even to Africa, Syria, Egypt. And above Vesuvius there was only a thin column of smoke.

Excavation results, description of the tragedy

Centuries later, when excavations were carried out at the site of Pompeii, many petrified statues were recovered - victims of that eruption. Scientists managed to figure out why they survived. Nature seemed to take care of future archaeologists. Immediately after the eruption, a powerful hot downpour poured into the vicinity of Vesuvius, which turned the ashes into mud, which reliably covered the bodies. Subsequently, this mud turned into a kind of cement. The flesh flooded with it gradually decomposed, but the volume that it once occupied remained hollow inside the hardened substance.

1777 - at the Villa of Diomedes for the first time they found not just a skeleton, but also an imprint of the body under it, but only in 1864, the head of the excavations, Giuseppe Fiorolli, figured out how to restore the appearance of the deceased. Having tapped the surface and found a cavity that remained from the decomposed body, archaeologists made a small hole and poured liquid gypsum into it. Filling the cavern, he created a cast, accurately conveying the dying posture of the pompeian.

This method made it possible to restore hundreds of human bodies: in some cases, the hairstyles of the victims, the folds of their clothes and even facial expressions are clearly visible, thanks to which we can imagine in great detail the last minutes of the life of the unfortunate city. The casts captured all the horror and despair of that distant catastrophe, forever stopping the moment: to this day, the woman holds the baby in her arms, and two girls cling to the edges of her clothes. A young man and woman lie side by side, as if they had just fallen on the run. And outside the northern walls of the city, some unfortunate loses his balance, in vain pulling the goat's leash.

Everywhere, death instantly overtook many people. In the house of a certain Quintus Poppeus, 10 slaves fell dead as they climbed the stairs to the upper chambers; going first, held a bronze lamp. In the house of Publius Pacuvius Proculus, seven children were crushed when the second floor collapsed, unable to withstand the weight of the lava. In the building where the wine trade was carried out, 34 people took refuge under the vaulted ceiling, taking with them bread and fruits in order to wait out the eruption, but they could not get out. In one country estate, 18 adults and 2 children died in the cellar, and the owner of the estate, clutching a silver key in his hand, died outside the house at the garden gate overlooking the fields. Beside him was the manager, who carried the master's money and other valuables.

In the house of Menander, the owners fled, leaving the gatekeeper to guard the property. The old man lay down in his closet at the door and died, clutching his master's purse to his chest. At the Nukeri gate, a beggar asked for alms - they gave him little things and gave him completely new sandals, but he could no longer go anywhere in them. In the House of Vesonius Primus, a tied dog was forgotten. The dog climbed up through the ash and pumice as long as the chain allowed.

50 gladiators remained forever in the barracks, two were chained to the wall. But among them was also someone from completely different social strata: it was a woman, apparently rich and noble. The bones left from her were adorned with pearls, rings and other jewelry. Was it a generous benefactor who took care of several fighters at once and was caught dead during a routine visit to her wards? Or was she visiting her lover that fateful night? We will never know anything about this mysterious story.

There are a lot of touching facts about the Pompeians, forever frozen in 79. Some of the bodies are on display to tourists in Pompeii's "Garden of the Fugitives", but most are stored in the vaults of the museum there.

What killed the inhabitants of Pompeii

It was traditionally believed that the death of all Pompeians was long and painful: they inhaled the ashes, which turned into a kind of cement in their lungs that blocked their breathing. But relatively recently, a group of Naples volcanologists led by Giuseppe Mastrolorenzo questioned this theory. They came to the conclusion that the victims did not rush about, did not agonize in suffocation and did not catch air in their mouths - they were instantly killed by a pyroclastic flow.

According to the calculations of volcanologists, Vesuvius threw six such streams one after another. The first three stopped, a little before reaching the city, located 4.5 km from the base of the volcano. It was they who destroyed all life in neighboring Herculaneum, Stabiae and the seaside town of Oplontis, which had the misfortune of being located a little closer to Vesuvius (and which, alas, are rarely remembered as victims of that catastrophe). But the death of Pompeii came from the fourth wave 18 m high, which rushed at the speed of a modern car (about 104 km / h) and covered the city with hot gas. It didn't last more than a minute, maybe even less. But this was enough for hundreds of people to die instantly.

Scientists examined the remains of 650 Pompeians and compared them with 37 skeletons found at Oplontis and 78 from Herculaneum. From the color and structure of the bones, they calculated that the inhabitants of Herculaneum and Oplontis died from a pyroclastic flow with a temperature of 500-600 ° C, and the Pompeians - from a flow that was colder: 250-300 ° C. In the first case, people instantly burned to the bone, but in the second - no. Therefore, in Herculaneum, there was no whole human flesh left, which, being covered with ashes, would then create a cavity, as happened with the Pompeians.

But what then explains that the majority of the inhabitants of Pompeii, as can be seen on their plaster casts, mouths wide open? After all, it was this that first made it possible to attribute their death to suffocation. Volcanologists answer, this is cataleptic rigor mortis. The unfortunate froze in those poses in which they were suddenly overtaken by a wave of hot gas. And in fact, a sharp muscle spasm stopped many of them in motion, for example, in a running position, and a person who does not have enough breath cannot run. According to Mastrolorenzo, the open mouth of the victim is the last cry of pain, not the desire to inhale; hands raised to the face - the result of a convulsive spasm, and not a protection from the ashes.

Why did everyone always explain the postures of the unfortunate precisely by suffocation? Exclusively due to the persuasiveness of the story of the Roman historian Pliny the Younger, who reported in letters to Tacitus about the death of his uncle, Pliny the Elder, during an eruption. At the time of the eruption, he and his family were in the port of the Gulf of Naples near Pompeii. Pliny the Elder, admiral of the Roman fleet, at the head of the squadron went to the dying cities.

Soon he reached the nearest - Stabiae. However, as soon as the admiral and the team went ashore, a poisonous sulfur cloud enveloped the coast. Pliny the Younger wrote: “The uncle stood up, leaning on two slaves, and immediately fell ... I think because he was out of breath from the thick fumes. When daylight returned, his body was found completely intact, dressed as he was; he looked more like a sleeping man than a dead man. Rescuers died of suffocation, and 2,000 refugees died with them. But the fact is that archaeologists rarely find bodies in Pompeii in the pose of Pliny, while most of those who remained in the city were actively engaged in something at the time of death.

Life and life in the city of Pompeii before the disaster

It is noteworthy that in Pompeii, a month before the volcanic eruption, local magistrates were elected, and a variety of electoral appeals were preserved on the walls of houses. Among them, few wish individuals, the vast majority looks like this:

“Gai Kuspius Pansu is offered to the aedile by all master jewelers”, “I ask you to make Trebius an aedile, he is put forward by confectioners”, “Mark Golconia Prisca and Gaia Gavia Rufa offer Phoebus to the duumvirs with their regular customers.” The sign that unites the authors of the inscription could be the strangest: “Vatia is offered to the aediles, united, all lovers of sleep” or: “Gaius Julius Polybius - to the duumvirs. A lover of scientific studies, and with him a baker.

The artists were artisans who, interestingly, worked in a “brigade method”: some made the mortar and paints, others created the basis for the fresco, and still others painted it. Experts today learned that the Pompeians mixed paints with water to give different shades on a wall that was still damp from fresh plaster. After that, the picture was polished with stone rollers. Due to the fact that the frescoes have survived to our time, scientists have come to the conclusion that the Pompeians had 4 different styles of wall painting in their arsenal.

In the III century BC. e. they applied plaster on sandstone, which they then painted to create a colored background for the wall, and only after that they applied a drawing. If in 85-80 BC. e. depicted real people, then in the 30s, images already appeared on the walls literary heroes. A little later, they switched to decor reminiscent of Impressionist paintings. What is interesting: after the volcanic eruption, such frescoes were not repeated anywhere else.

The Pompeian mosaics are especially admirable. It was made of glass or ceramics. Moreover, the mosaic played not only an aesthetic, but also a functional role in dwellings. For example, “messages” were laid out on mosaic floors. If a figure of a dog was laid out at the entrance, this could indicate the wealth of the owner of the house, while the “dog” was called upon to protect this wealth.

There were quite a lot of mosaics in the houses and baths of the inhabitants of the city. 1831 - archaeologists find a mosaic panel made of one and a half million cubes! It is a question of a mosaic, which depicts a leading duel with the Persian king Darius. Alex Barbe believes that this panel was in the villa of a very wealthy resident of Pompeii, since his bathhouse, also completely decorated with mosaics, was nearby. Fountains were also decorated in the same way - both in the city and in the gardens of the rich.

In particular, salons for receiving guests were skillfully painted. There could have been several. The refectories were organized in the Greek manner: there are three beds with pillows placed in a semi-oval. They were treated to reclining meals. In such a dining room, as a rule, there were three doors, two of which were intended exclusively for servants.

The inhabitants of Pompeii were known in the ancient world as great lovers of food. The mild Mediterranean climate made it possible to grow various vegetables and fruits, fish splashed nearby, and there was enough meat. Skillful slave cooks prepared delicacies that were famous far beyond the city limits. The various recipes for the dishes served were strictly kept. Sometimes the masters released such slaves into the wild in gratitude for their culinary skills, however, stipulating the conditions: their successor students should be the same masters in cooking as they are.

The first excavations of the city

However, several centuries passed, and the Italians forgot exactly where the dead cities were located. Legends conveyed to the inhabitants the echoes of ancient events. But who died? Where and when? Peasants who dug wells in their estates often found traces of ancient buildings in the ground. Only in late XVI centuries, while laying an underground tunnel near the city of Torre Annunziata, builders stumbled upon the remains of an ancient wall. Even 100 years later, during the construction of the well, workers discovered a part of the building on which there was an inscription: "Pompeii".

Serious excavations in the disaster area began only in the second half of the 18th century. But archaeologists did not have enough experience to properly carry out work of this magnitude. The excavated buildings, after all the most interesting things were taken out of them - usually jewelry and ancient statues - were again covered up. As a result, many priceless artifacts and household items of the townspeople perished. However, already at the end of the 18th century, archaeologists grabbed their heads and put things in order at the excavations.

And during the reign of Joachim Murat, a former Napoleonic marshal who eventually became the ruler of Naples, excavations began to be carried out in a completely civilized manner, according to all the rules of science. Now scientists paid attention to the location of things, their environment, simple tools and household utensils. Until our time, the buried cities have been excavated by three-quarters. But there's more to come big job promising scientists new amazing discoveries.

Pompeii is a huge open-air museum city, which in 1997 was included in the UNESCO list cultural heritage peace. Thousands of tourists flock here every day to touch the ancient history, to witness everyday details of a thousand years ago and feel the horror of the city buried under the ash and lava of a capricious volcano.

Pompeii was founded by the Oska mountain tribes in the 7th century. BC, who built the city on solidified lava, not guessing either the origin of this "foundation" or the reason for the fertility of the soil.
At that time, Vesuvius was sleeping and seemed like a harmless mountain.
In the 4th century BC became part of the Roman state.
He for a long time remained in the shadow of the larger settlements of Campania.
History of urban planning Pompey It is divided into two periods, as evidenced by the presence of different architectural parts of the city: old quarters with chaotic buildings, and new quarters built according to a single plan.
The old quarters are a legacy of the Oscans who built houses intuitively. Planned construction began in the 4th century. BC. At this time, straight streets with names, rectangular quarters, temples, markets, amphitheaters appeared.
Pompeii was built according to Roman urban planning traditions: in the center, two streets cardo and decumanus intersected, forming a central square.
At the beginning of the 5th century, the area of ​​​​Pompeii was more than 65 hectares.
Pavements were paved with cobblestones, and caring for the condition of the roads was the responsibility of the townspeople: everyone watched the area adjacent to the house, cleaned up the trash, and repaired it. Roads and mourning had a sloping profile for the flow of water, heading into the city sewer.

A fountain was installed at almost every intersection. On some streets there were altars decorated with paintings, stucco and inscriptions.

The facades of the houses overlooked the city streets, on the lower floors of which there were shops and workshops, on the upper floors there were living quarters.
Excellently executed frescoes, mosaics, statues testify to high level visual arts. The originals are placed in Archaeological Museum Naples, but copies have been installed in their place, which create a wonderful impression of former luxury.

Private houses were quite simple. Warm climate allowed to do without windows, thereby saving on expensive glass. Sometimes narrow cracks were punched in the wall. The houses faced the street with blank ends, instead of numbers they wrote the name of the owner.

Above residential buildings noble townspeople arranged a portico - a wooden canopy on pillars that protected from rain and sun.
The atrium was considered the main room of the dwelling, i.e. enclosed courtyard, in the center of which there was a pool for collecting rainwater. This water was considered sacred. Adjacent to the atrium were rooms intended for sleeping and working; and also had a garden and a dining room. The houses of the nobility were distinguished by luxury and wealth, the number of rooms reached 40.

Water was supplied through pipes to the houses and fountains of the city.

Pompeii was a rich and highly developed city where trade and crafts flourished.
At the same time, it was a densely populated city in which the entire flow of people flocked to business center Forum.
The Forum hosted city council meetings and related ceremonies, from elections and oaths to solemn funerals.
In working on the forum project, the architects followed ancient tradition: it should not be small for practical purposes, but it should not seem deserted due to the small number of people.
The oldest building of the Forum is considered to be the Basilica, in which justice was administered, and in the rest of the time commercial and entertainment meetings were held in it. Near the Basilica was a prison, consisting of cramped rooms without windows, with narrow, iron-bound doors.

In the II century. BC. the central place in the Forum was occupied by the temple of Jupiter or the Capitol, which was considered the main sacred building. After the final conquest by the Romans, the temple was dedicated to the three Capitoline deities - Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. A wide staircase with a stone terrace led to its main entrance, from where the priests delivered ceremonial speeches.

During the Roman Empire, the Forum was erected Triumphal Arch, dedicated to the emperor Tiberius, administrative buildings, a tabularium - the city archive, buildings for ceremonies, the temple of Apollo, the Pantheon - the temple of Augustus were built.

Part of the area was occupied by a food market - macellum. Nearby were the temples of the city Lares and Vespasian, the stock exchange of Eumachia, Comitium - a platform for citizens to vote.

At sunset, the Forum closed. The porter went around all the exits and locked the gates. main square The city was empty until morning. After sunset, only prison guards and prisoners were allowed in the Forum.

The ancient Romans loved and worshiped the gods of the conquered peoples. They moved other people's idols to themselves and treated them with great respect, trying to earn their sympathy. Pagan temples were located on the main squares.

The best preserved temple of Isis.
Isis was the idol of wealthy Roman women, who found her protection in extramarital love. The priestesses of the temple of Isis also arranged dates between same-sex lovers.
The temple, placed in the middle of a quadrangular portico with columns covered with drawings, rises on a high podium with a side staircase. On the sides are equipped with two niches intended for the statues of Anubis and Arpocrates, the son and brother of Isis.
Behind the temple are small buildings, here the priestesses of Isis gathered and arranged dates, and there was also a Purgatory with water from the Nile, which was used in the rite of purification.

In Pompeii there were two theaters built according to the Greek model.
Grand Theatre was built in 200-150. BC. in a natural hollow of a hill. During the time of Augustus, the theater was enlarged, and its capacity was 5,000 spectators. The lower part of the theater has been preserved, covered with marble and intended for the most important citizens.

IN Pompeii worked set thermopolium- ancient taverns, where they served hot food and wine with spices. The dishes were warmed up with the help of volumetric vessels built into the counter up to the very neck, into which hot water.


There were many public baths in the city, while each rich house had its own baths.

But the life of a prosperous city was cut short by the will of fate. The destructive eruption of Vesuvius brought not only human tragedy, but also gave "immortality" to Pompeii.
The forerunners of the volcanic eruption was a strong earthquake that occurred in 62 AD. Almost all the buildings of Pompeii were damaged, some completely destroyed. But the city was quickly restored.

The eruption of Vesuvius began on the afternoon of August 24, 79 AD.
At first, few residents paid attention to the cloud of ash and steam that rose above the volcano, because Vesuvius had long been considered asleep.
Soon a black cloud covered the entire sky over the city, ash flakes settled on the roofs of houses, sidewalks, trees. The ashes had to be constantly shaken off the clothes.
Under its layer, the bright colors of the city faded, merging into a single gray background. Continuous tremors constantly shook the ground.
The earthquake that began was so strong that carts on the streets began to overturn, and statues fell from houses and tiles crumbled.
It was possible to go out into the street only by covering the head with a pillow, since after the ashes, stones began to fall from the sky. People's anxiety grew.
The pillar rising from the mouth of the volcano reached a height of 20 km.

Many residents tried to hide from the ashes in their houses, but poisonous sulfurous vapors quickly filled the air there and people died from suffocation.

Under the weight of ash, the roofs of houses collapsed on the inhabitants who had taken refuge in them.
Many died, unable to leave valuables.
During the excavations, many people were found with bags full of gold and other valuables.
The explosion was extended in time, so most of the residents managed to leave the city.

Slaves remained in the city, who were left on purpose to protect household property, and citizens who stubbornly refused to leave their homes.
The next morning met the people who remained in the vicinity with pitch darkness, the air became hot. The eruption of Vesuvius completely destroyed.
The city disappeared under a layer of ash, the thickness of which reached several meters.
For many centuries, in the place where olive trees used to grow and vineyards were green, dull gray plains of hardened lava stretched.
The cities buried under the ashes disappeared from the memory of people for almost 1700 years, until by chance, at the end of the 16th century, the architect Fontana, digging a well near Sarno, found the remains of a wall and fragments of frescoes. The first excavations of the city began in the 18th century.
The first of all the cities were excavated.

Directions:
Take the Circumvesuviana train from Naples to the Pompei Scavi stop.

Opening hours:
From November 1 to March 31: all days from 8.30 to 17.00 (ticket office until 15.30)
From April 1 to October 31: all days from 8.30 to 19.30 (ticket office until 18.00)
Closed: January 1st, May 1st, December 25th.

The official archaeological site of Pompeii is www.pompeiisites.org.