Pompeii

Mount Vesuvius looming in the distance

Pompeii, as you probably know, is the ancient city that was buried in lava and ash by Mount Vesuvius nearly 2000 years ago. Scientists say that these are some of the best ruins in the world because they were so well preserved by the lava and ash. These ruins were discovered in the year 1599 and are still being uncovered today. Certain areas of the ruins were covered by up to 20 feet of this lava and ash. When archeologists began uncovering the city they noticed stange voids in the volcanic rock they were clearing out. After many of these experiences they finally discovered these voids were made by bodies from 79ad when Vesuvius erupted. Poeple and animals were intombed in the rock. The actual bodies had long since decayed or been melted by the temperatures of the lava. These voids were filled with plaster to to make casts of the bodies. This is by far the most eerie expierience of the ruins. On many of the casts you can see the emotions in the face of the people as they run, or hide, still held in perfect position.

Anyways on the lighter side... The sheer size of these ruins is mind boggling. We were there the entire day and I feel like I only scratched the surface. There are roads and city blocks of ruins for nearly 200 acres. You can stand at the intersections of the streets and you cant see the end of the ruins in any direction. In the city there was also a colosseum, two theatres and a large forum.

There has been heightened activity under Vesuvius recently and sceintists there say that a large eruption is likely within the next 20 years...but this doesn't seems to bother the 3 million people living around the base (most densely populated volcanic region in the world)... Glad I got out of there in time! haha.

Last, is something that is quite eerie and ironic. When closely examining one of the walls in the city we noticed that some of the bricks were made from pumice, which was likely volcanic rock from an eruption previous to the 79ad eruption... The people of Pompeii were killed by the very thing that provided them with the means to live.

Typical Pompeii street and buildings

Ancient brick oven. (the inside was about the size of a walk-in closet)

Small temple

Various food and liquid storage pots and one of the entombed bodies

Another body

I think these pretty much speak for themselves

Ampitheatre that is still used for events today

View from top of the seating into one of the forums

Massive colosseum which is now overgrown by grass

View from the top 

Ancient dog mosaic which literally says "beware of dog"... kind of funny

Vesuvius from the air on our flight home from Sicily