Still standing

It’s the brickwork that impresses me most. How come our side wall at home needs repointing when the mortar in the Roman walls at Pompeii is still in pristine condition 2000 years on?

 Having been buried in 25 ft of volcanic ash for most of the intervening years is going to have helped, but still.

Once in Naples, Pompeii seems unavoidable, so here we are and here it is, in all its Greco-Roman glory. 

Shops with sliding frontages, houses, brothels and self service soup kitchens all still standing across a 66 acre site, with much much more apparently still buried and awaiting excavation. 

 Despite it being such a well known site, it’s nevertheless staggering to see in reality. With only a wee bit of imagination you can envisage what a stunning town it must have been before disaster struck courtesy of an explosive Vesuvius.

The huge central rectangular Forum, which acted as a meeting place, market and democratic decision-making area, was once bounded by double decker marble columns, only some of which are still there. It must have been glorious. It still has the stone stops in place to stop carts driving in.

There was running water, efficient drainage, pavements, roads and the aforementioned pedestrian-only areas. There still are ‘beware of the dog’ signs, marble topped canteen counters, wall paintings and stone knobs indicating areas where you could once have purchased sexual favours. 

   
In a couple of places there are vibrantly coloured wall frescos still to be seen and there’s a lovely marble portico carved all over with animals and flowers.

Again, in our short visit, we can only have seen a fraction of what’s there, although I think our (essential) guide Salavatore did a fine job of shepherding us round the highlights.