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Pompeii
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- Name
- Pompeii
- Continent
- EUROPE
- Alt Name:
- Pompei Scavi
- Country:
- Italy
- Period:
- Ancient Rome
- Sub-Region:
- -
- Date:
- 0AD - 99AD
- City/Town:
- Pompei
- Figure:
- -
- Resorts:
- Pompei,
Sorrento,
Naples,
- Related:
- Stabiae, Villa Poppaea,
about Pompeii
One of the best known ancient sites in the world, Pompeii was an ancient Roman city founded in the 6th to 7th century BC and famously destroyed by the eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
The people of Pompeii were completely unprepared for this disaster and its impact, which covered Pompeii in 6-7 metres of ash.
Today, Pompeii is one of the world’s most famous archeological sites. It is a ghost town filled with the bodies of its tragic citizens, many of whom died from asphyxiation and who were preserved by the ash and cinders which buried them.
The most intriguing aspect of Pompeii and what makes it such a popular site to visit is the extent to which its homes, buildings and artifacts have remained intact. Essentially, walking through Pompeii is treading in the footsteps of ancient Roman life, with its houses, shops, walkways, pedestrian stones and carriage tracks.
Amongst Pompeii’s most interesting sites are; the public marketplace or ’Forum’, a large home known as the House of the Vettii and the Basilica, which was a central building in the city. The artifacts found at the site are also fascinating, with many domestic objects and even the preserved bodies of people who perished in the eruption.
Pompeii Amphitheatre is also staggeringly impressive, it being a 20,000 seat structure and the first ever stone amphitheatre. In 59AD, the Emperor Nero banned games in this sports venue for a whole ten years, after a giant brawl between fans of Pompeii and those of neighbouring Nuceria.
Pompeii is quite a maze, so ensure you have a map, available for free at information desk at the entrance, where you can also buy audio guides. During the summer, the Pompeii Archeological Superintendence organises evening tours. This site also features as one of our Top 10 Tourist Attractions in Italy.
Just as empires rise and fall so do entry fees and opening hours! While we work as hard as we can to ensure the information provided here about Pompeii is as accurate as possible, the changing nature of certain elements mean we can't absolutely guarantee that these details won't become a thing of the past. If you know of any information on this page that needs updating you can add a comment above or now.
contact details
Address: Porta Marina or Piazza Esedra, Pompeii, Campania, Italy
Phone: +39 081 8575331
E-Mail: ssba-na@beniculturali.it
useful information
Directions:
By train from Naples and Sorrento, take the Circumvesuviana line to Pompei Scavi station, just 50 metres from the site’s entrance at Piazza Anfiteatro. By bus, take the Naples to Salermo SITA line and get off at the Piazza Esedra for Pompeii’s entrance at Porta Marinaor Piazza Esedra. By car, take Autostrada A3 to the Pompeii exit.
Ticket Information:
Nov-Mar: 8:30am-5pm daily (last entry 3:30pm). Apr-Oct: 8:30am-7:30pm daily (last entry 6pm). Closed 1 Jan, 1 May and 25 Dec. Entry costs €11 or a 3 day pass that also allows access to Herculaneum, Oplontis, Stabiae, Boscoreale is costs €20.
Links:
http://www.pompeiisites.org/
http://www.turismoregionecampania.it/EN/assets/guidepdf/gen_Vesuvio_en.pdf
http://wikitravel.org/en/Pompeii
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/pompeii_portents_01.shtml
Historvius is not responsible for the content of external sites.
USER COMMENTS
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06 Nov, 2012
I had always been interested in the tragedy of Pompeii so visited while on holiday in Sorrento in 2011. The city and its people were preserved in the ash from mount Vesuvius unlike the lava that preserved Herculaneum. There is so much to see and unlike other sites mosaics still have colour due the the ash. There are displays of people who were consumed by the ash as well as a tethered dog, these displays really showed the loss and panic which must have spread across the city. I was certainly not disappointed and would recommend to anyone!