Self-guided tour of Pompeii and it felt like 110 degrees.
The eruption that devastated Pompeii occurred in 79 AD. It was a mixture of pumice, ash and pieces of rock in a mass of gases. Large clouds of pumice dust spread high and wide and quickly covered the area in thick layers. The gases and dust suffocated the population and then they were buried by the ash.
In 1592 Pompeii was discovered but not identified until 1763.
This is the gate into the city.
Suburban Baths
The walls of the changing rooms were decorated with fresco paintings
Temple of Apollo
The Basilica - housed the town's law courts.
Vesuvius - it looks so far away ...
The Forum
The heart of Pompeii's daily life.
housed the most important municipal, religious and commercial buildings in the town.
Large Theatre
It could accommodate seating for 5,000 people.
There were gladiators.
Gladiator's barracks.
The House of Menander - a traditional Roman house. This is the atrium of the house.
Fresco Paintings
Plaster casts of wooden or wax statues of the Lares. An altar is dedicated to the cult of the Lares.
Asellina's Tavern
equivalent of fast food restaurant.
Warm cooked foods were stored in the masonry counter and were eaten on the spot.
Garden in a typical house.
Ongoing archaeological work.
Plaster casts made by archeologists. Liquid plaster is poured into the hollows left in the ash when the bodies decomposed to recreate the figures at the moment of their death.
Most of the inhabitants of Pompeii were killed not by collapsing buildings or the volcanic shower of stones and ash but by the poisonous gases released by the pumice stones.
The amphitheatre - literally - space for the spectators that runs all around the arena.
classes as the oldest of all existing buildings of this kind.
20,000 people could be seated in its the tiers and would attend bloody shows performed by gladiators and wild animals.
In summer a canopy of dark flax material was fired above the seats to protect the audience from the hot sun.
