Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
509
according to archaeologists and historians, hot ash and pumice rained on the city
of Pompeii, collapsing roofs and filling in every conceivable gap with a soft pow-
der that solidified to a thickness of 9m (30 ft.) in some places. Lava eventually ran
over the top of the ash-covered wasteland. Seventeen hundred years later excava-
tions began to reveal what was underneath.
This is a massive archaeological site with many similar, well-preserved ruins.
The first mistake is to try to see it all, unless you have ample time and lots of
energy. The second mistake is to wander aimlessly. It's an easy place to get lost;
without a map, the sites are hard to identify, and in all honesty, everything may
start looking the same after an hour or so.
Pick up a map at the newly revamped entrance just across from the train stop
for Scavi di Pompeii, and head straight for the
Forum,
the mosaics in the
House
of the Tragic Poet,
and the bronze statue in the
House of Faun.
You may also
enjoy a peek at the erotic art in the
House of the Vetti,
and a quick walk through
the giant
Amphitheater.
Farther afield, though still inside the site, is the
Villa dei
Misteri.
On the walk back out you'll pass the ancient tombs of Pompeii, which
stood outside the city walls, as was the custom of the time. The casts of victims
from the
Garden of Fugitives
have been placed inside movable display cases; the
curators relocate them based on the season and weather. Ask where they are when
you buy your tickets.
Old Pompeii is worth seeing, but staying in new Pompeii is not worth it. The
new town is dismal and expensive, with only a handful of hotels. Make this a day
trip either from Rome or Naples. (It's also doable by train from Sorrento or by bus
from any of the towns along the coast.)
In some ways, nearby
Herculaneum Scavi
555
9
(Corso Resina, 6;
%
081-7390963;
€
8.50 or
€
14 with Scavi di Pompeii; daily Apr-Oct 8:30am-
7:30pm, last entrance 6pm, the rest of the year until 5pm daily, last entrance
3:30pm),
in the village of Ercolano, is preferable to Pompeii, because, though
smaller, it's better preserved and less crowded with tourists. The excavations here
are not marked as well as Pompeii's, so this is an ideal place to hire an authorized
guide. Legally, they can't charge for tours inside the excavations, but they do
expect a tip. Herculaneum has many more intact structures than Pompeii, with
rooftops and multistory houses, because this town was buried quickly in volcanic
mud while Pompeii was covered slowly with the ashen rain. If you go down to the
old shoreline, you can see many of the 250 skeletons that were unearthed in the
1980s, and the layers of volcanic deposits that stopped at the sea. These excava-
tions are a fraction of the size of Pompeii's and both sites can be explored on the
same day. Give yourself a couple of hours here with a good map (always get the
most updated version from the ticket booth because many excavations are ongo-
ing, especially at the time of this writing).
GREEK RUINS & THE PHLEGREAN FIELDS
The coastline west of Naples is dotted with spectacular ruins tucked amid the
badly planned suburbs of the city. The best are
Cuma
(Via Montecuma;
%
081-
8543060)
with its
Cave of the Sibyl,
and the
Parco Archeologico
(Via Fusaro, 75,
Baia;
%
081-5233797),
with its
ruined baths
and
mosaics.
You can visit both of
these sites with a combined ticket for
4. To reach them, take the local train line
from Naples, toward Pozzuoli (20-min. trip).
€
