Pompeii

On a rocky tableland formed by an ancient eruption stands the city of Pompeii that, due to the eruption of the Vesuvius in 79 A.C., was buried under 60 feet of ash and pumice. 

The city can be actually visited still today thanks to such catastrophic event and the subsequent state of preservation. Between the end of the VII century and first half of the VI century B.C., the first walls were built, delimitating an area of around 63 hectares. 

Towards the end of the V century B.C., during the Samnite era, the urban development of Pompeii was started; during the year 80, it became a Roman colony with the name of Cornelia Veneria Pompeianorum. 

The city has returned many examples of public buildings, ( the Forum with the Capitolium, the Basilica, the administrative facilities, the buildings dedicated to the imperial cult, the macellum, the thermae, the theatres and amphiteathre) and private 

( the Casa del Fauno, Casa del Poeta Tragico, la Casa del Menandro, la Casa dei Casti Amanti, la Villa dei Misteri) that contribute to the definition of the ancient city’s physiognomy, both its artistic aspects and those connected with the everyday life).

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Garden of the Fugitives

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD is one of the most catastrophic and famous eruptions of all time. The explosion of the eruption threw a deadly cloud of stones, ash and fumes to a height of 20.5 miles, spewing molten rock and pulverized pumice at the rate of 1.5 million tons per second, ultimately releasing a hundred thousand times the thermal energy released by the Hiroshima bombing. The city of Pompeii was obliterated by pyroclastic flows and an estimated 16,000 citizens perished in the event.

When Pompeii was excavated diggers uncovered decomposed bodies of countless victims. In one place, plaster was poured into the spaces left by decomposed bodies and when the dirt was removed after the plaster had hardened, thirteen adults and children were found huddled together, making futile attempts to shield themselves from the onslaught of volcanic dust, pumice, stone, and ash.

This place, where once stood an ancient orchard, came to be known as the “Garden of the Fugitives” and it offers visitors a frozen glimpse of Pompeii's appalling last hours. The thirteen bodies were of people who were trying to flee the deadly volcanic dust and rocks, which gave the garden its name.

A large number of artifacts and casts from Pompeii are also preserved in the Naples National Archaeological Museum.

"Garden of the Fugitives". Plaster casts of victims still in situ; many casts are in the Archaeological Museum of Naples.

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Museo Archeologico Nazionale

Gladiator Helmet (from Pompei)

The most important archaeological museum in Italy, hosted in a building with a complex and interesting architectural history. Born towards the end of the sixteenth century as a stable, in 1612 it was turned into a “Palace of the Studies”, venue of the University. In 1777 it was chosen as the seat of the “Real Bourbon Museum”, to host the rich archaeological, artistic and bibliographic collections and the cultural institutions related to it, like the Royal Bourbon Society and the School of Fine Arts. 

Garibaldi gave it the name of “National Museum” and, during the twentieth century, with the shift of the library to the Royal Palace and of the pinacotheca to Capodimonte, it was finally devoted to the Archaeological Museum. 

Afrodite Callipige

Many are the important collections here preserved, like the extraordinary Farnese collection with its archeological finds of the Vesuvian area coming from the Ercolanese Museum in Portici (among which are frescoes, sculptures, bronzes, ivories, bones, terracotta, glass windows, vases and mosaics), the collections of the Palatine Museum, created by Carolina Murat, the important numismatic collections of the University of Naples and Carelli, the collection of Etruscan vases Falconet, the Egyptian collection with mummies, mummy-cases, mirrors, vases, the collection of vases and terracotta Gargiulo, the collection from Cuma, the Santangelo collection, with findings coming from southern Italy and the Stevens collection from Cuma.

Plaster cast of a woman (from Pompei)

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