Gritty Naples and Ill Fated Pompeii

There can’t be many places in Italy or even Europe that can match the grittiness and cultural richness of Naples. Add to this concoction a menacing volcano and two ill-fated ancient cities in the neighboring towns of Herculaneum and Pompeii and you will have a recipe for one of the most fascinating places you will ever visit.

We are visiting this region by motorhome and we have already been staying at the Agricamping Stone Vesuvius not far from the ruins of Herculaneum (blog post here). After already being in the area for two nights we have finally made it to the ruins of Pompeii. This UNESCO World Heritage archeological site is famous worldwide and one of the most visited in Europe.

We left our motorhome site in Ercolano soon after breakfast and made our way to the Ercolano Scavi train station, it was very easy and cheap to purchase a ticket to ride the Circumvesuviana to Pompeii Scavi. The ruins are a very short walk from the train station. We had already bought the tickets for the ruins of Pompeii online the day before (due to the recent Covid-19 and limits on tourist numbers the sale of tickets is now online).

Our visit to Pompeii being on a Saturday, we had expected it to be a lot busier, but we were pleasantly surprised at how quiet it was. There were a couple of medium-size group excursions with a guide, but otherwise, there were just a few other independent travelers. 

The Ruins of Pompeii

This haunting Roman city has been frozen in time for almost two thousand years, preserved under volcanic rocks and ash. Before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, Pompeii was an important port town controlled by the Ancient Roman Empire. A bustling city with hotels, restaurants, bars, bakers, some humble roman homes, as well as wealthy homes, and even a brothel. There was also a Basilica and even a large Anfiteatro, which is the oldest known Roman Amphitheater in existence. 

The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius started just after midday on August 24th AD 79, captured in a vivid eye witness report preserved in two letters written by Pliny the Younger to the historian Tacitus. Volcanic ash, pumice, and debris began falling down on Pompeii, covering the city to a depth of more than 9 feet/3 meters and causing the roofs of houses to cave in. By the early morning of August 25th surges, of pyroclastic material and hot gases killed the remaining residents. More volcanic ash and pyroclastic flows further buried the city under another at least 9 feet of debris. 

The city remained sealed and protected from the effects of the weather, the rise and fall of empires, vandalizing and looting for hundreds of years until it was discovered by the architect Domenico Fontana in the 16th Century during his aqueduct tunneling work. But proper excavations only started in 1748, although early excavations did not follow a proper system and were often carried out by treasure seekers or workers not properly trained in the preservation of ancient sites, therefore causing more harm than good. 

It is a large site and there are many highlights so having a guide could be useful… although not cheap. We downloaded an app and proceeded under our own steam, wandering the streets and entering some of the houses (not all houses are open to the public).

We entered the site via the Porta Marina/Sea Gate, which is the main entrance. Originally, the gate would have connected the town with the nearby harbor since  Ancient Pompeii stood on the shores of the Mediterraneum. But the Mt. Vesuvius eruptions extended the shorelines far from the walls of the city. This is the most impressive of the seven gates of Pompeii, providing access to the West of the city. 

Built during the second century BC, the gate has two thick arches with the main one being higher, intended for the passage of carts and horses, the smaller one was for pedestrian passage. We walked past the Basilica and entered the open-air “Foro” which would have been the main hub of the city.  

The main hub of activity of the city was the Forum, like the main Piazza, situated at an intersection of some of Pompeii’s main streets. There were many commercial and civic buildings, major temples, and statues here. For example, the Temple of Apollo and also the Temple dedicated to Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva (the three gods that were worshiped on the Capitol Hill in Rome) are situated here. There are lots to see, so we took our time exploring. Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic tourist numbers were greatly reduced and we found it to be nothing like the photos we have seen of a usually very busy site. 

Granai del Foro – Forum Granary

A Granary market in Ancient times, it is nowadays used to store many of the artifacts found on the site. Located in the North-West end of the Forum, this place is a must-visit. Although you can’t enter it, you can look through the iron bars for a peek into the essence of life in this city. 

There are tools, pottery, many ancient Roman jars ( amphorae), and a few plaster casts of the volcano eruption victims. The casts were made in the late 19th century by Giuseppe Fiorelli who thought of pouring plaster into hollows left by the disintegrating bodies of Pompeii’s ancient residents, showing how the bodies were positioned in their final moments. 

Casa Del Fauno – House of Faun 

The House of Faun was Pompeii’s largest and most impressive private house, built during the second century BC, it covered 3000 square meters of an entire city block, some of the early excavations (1830) found many of the greatest mosaics (many now housed at the museum in Naples – Museo Archeologico Nazionale), including the Alexander Mosaic, depicting Alexander The Great in battle. 

 

Although the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius was devastating, the layers of ash following the eruption preserved the mosaics and artwork. The House of the Faun was so named because of the small bronze statue of the Danzante Fauno/Dancing Faun (Fauns were spirits of untamed woodland) which was found during the excavations of this site. There is a copy of it here, but the original is at the National Archeological Museum in Naples. 

The House of Menander

 One of the richest and most magnificent houses in ancient Pompeii. The owner was likely to have been an aristocrat with a taste for the beautiful and fine things in life. Many of the house walls were covered in beautiful ancient frescoes and there were intricate mosaic floors.

There are many other interesting houses to explore in these ruins of Ancient Pompeii and we wandered around mesmerized by the intimate insight into the homes and lives of influential people as well as the more ordinary citizens. From modest homes to large magnificent villas of the noble class built with large rooms, inner courtyards, sumptuous decorations, mosaics, and paintings. 

Thermopolium of Pompeii 

The Thermopolium was like a fast-food bar for the residents, who would perch up to the counter to purchase hot food and drinks. There were around 150 of these long bar-like restaurants around the city, where people could grab a quick meal. Most residents didn’t actually cook for themselves, eating out was predominant since many residents could not afford their own private kitchen. Many of the houses of ordinary Pompeii citizens would have been too small to house a kitchen. 

As we wandered around we could almost visualize and piece together their ways of life, tastes in art, love, lust, religion, and politics.  

Anfiteatro- Theater Area

Built-in 70 BC  it is the oldest surviving Roman amphitheater known to have been built of stone. Many gladiatorial battles would have taken place here to entertain locals as well as visitors.

It continues to be used nowadays for various shows, including a summer season of classical theatre. Amazingly Frank Sinatra and also Pink Floyd have performed here. 

Pompeii Streets 

Some of the ancient Pompeii streets were cleverly designed with large, elevated stepping block stones, allowing people to cross the street without getting their feet wet during a rainstorm and also avoiding stepping into animal waste in places that did not have a good sewage system. 

The large cobblestoned streets had raised curbs on either side that would have been lined with shops and houses. The horse-pulled carts and chariots would travel up and down the streets transporting people and goods around. We walked around the many empty streets of Pompeii imagining it bursting with life back in ancient times. 

The “Large Palaestra” 

Situated near the amphitheater, the “Large Palaestra” consists of a large open-air courtyard area, surrounded by porticoes and enclosed by a high wall with battlements in which there are 10 doors.  It was built at the beginning of the 1st century AD and was intended for the physical and intellectual training of young citizens…in other words, brainwashing them (just speculating).  Apparently many victims of the Mt. Vesuvius eruption looked for refuge here but perished and their remains were found during the excavations. 

Nowadays the Palaestra hosts the permanent exhibition of the grand frescoes and artifacts found in the Complex of the Moregine Triclinia, a distinguished building situated about 600 meters away from the site of Pompeii, at the river port and also other temporary exhibits. It was fascinating to spend some time here exploring the many exhibits.

Igor Mitoraj Sculptures at Pompeii

 It is not just ancient history here at the ruins of Pompeii. The amazing bronze sculptures by the late Polish artist Igor Mitoraj have been placed in different areas of the ancient site. There are 30 sculptures being exhibited. According to Massimo Osanna, Director-General of Pompeii Superintendency  “Mitoraj sculptures remind us with their immanence, of the profound value classical antiquity has in contemporary culture”. 

After at least four hours of exploring the ruins of Pompeii, we grabbed some coffee and cakes at the cafe and sat down for a while to relax and take stock of the day. Afterward, we felt ready to be heading back to our home-on-wheels.

We walked out via the same gate we have entered earlier, the”Porta Marina” towards the Pompei Scavi train station. We noticed “Campsite Zeus”, right next door the Pompeii ruins, and thought that if we ever returned here by motorhome we would probably stay at this site since it is so convenient. But the Circumvesuviana train to Ercolano Scavi soon deposited us back to where we had first started earlier on in the day and we then just walked uphill to our campsite. 

After a good night of rest, we were ready for our last full day of exploring this area from our current campsite in Ercolano ( we still had more to explore in this region, but we would be moving to another campsite). Unfortunately, the weather the next day was not great and we had rain showers throughout our day of exploring Naples. 

Naples

We were looking forward to exploring this gritty and chaotic city, often described as the “soul” of Italy. Naples is Italy’s third-largest city, after Rome and Milan. We visited on a Sunday in October/2020 when the infection rates of Covid-19 were just starting to rise again in Italy. But the city was eerily quiet, most people were wearing face-masks when walking around and it was compulsory inside buildings and restaurants (apart from when eating). 

From our campsite, we walked down to the Ercolano Scavi train station and caught the Circumvesuviana train to Piazza Garibaldi train station. Since it was raining we decided to take the underground (Metro) from Piazza Garibaldi to Piazza Cavour, which was the nearest train station for our visit to the Museo Archeologico Nazionale. We bought the train ticket at the train station, from one of the machines, with help from one of the Station assistants who spoke very good English and was doing a great job of helping out tourists like ourselves.

The train was virtually empty and everyone wore a face-mask. From Piazza Cavour, we walked a short distance to the Museum. There were lockers for leaving our backpacks and umbrellas at the museum entrance.

Museo Archeologico Nazionale – This Museum houses a huge collection of Greek and Roman ancient art and artifacts. We were particularly interested in seeing many of the frescos, mosaics, and other artifacts from the Herculaneum and Pompeii excavations. 

The ground floor has some magnificent sculptures with the stars of the show being the two large sculptures: The “Toro Farnese” and Hercules.

The Farnese Bull (Toro Farnese), mentioned in the Natural History of Pliny the Elder is huge. Sculpted from a single block of marble, this masterpiece was unearthed in Rome in 1545 and restored by Michelangelo, before brought to Naples in 1788. Widely considered the largest single sculpture ever recovered from antiquity. 

The mighty statue of Hercules was also discovered in Rome, minus his legs. Therefore, the sculptor Guglielmo Della Porta, commissioned by Michelangelo managed to sculpt a new pair of legs for him. The original legs were later discovered and re-instated.  

Perhaps the museum’s most spectacular room is the Hall of Sundial (Salone Della Meridiana) featuring a vault fresco by Pietro Bardellino honoring King Ferdinand IV and Maria Carolina of Austria. 

The museum is a treasure trove of precious mosaics, ancient frescoes, pottery, glassware, sculptures. Many of the articles were found during the excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum. On the Mezzanine floor, there were some exquisite mosaics and quite a lot of ancient erotica. Some of the large floor mosaics from the House of Faun are being kept here for preservation since some are considered the most important works of art from antiquity. Such as the mural of Alexander the Great in the battle against the Persian king Darius III.

The mezzanine had some sort of “secret chamber” a room housing some of the more risque erotically themed collection of artworks and objects. They were quite obsessed with phallic symbols in Roman homes, considered symbols of good fortune, success, and fertility. This room was kept under lock and key during the censorship years after the revolution of 1848 and the monarchy and government at the time were keen for the lot to be destroyed. 

Limiting viewership and censorship have always been part of the history of the collection and since being rebuilt a few years ago with some new regulations, the collection was finally opened to the public in April 2000. Visitors under the age of 14 can tour the exhibit only with an adult. The room was closed during our visit, so we just managed a quick glance through the glass door. 

The first floor has a huge collection of frescoes, pottery, and sculptures found during the excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum. There was also a model of Pompeii showing a 1:100 scale from the beginning of excavations to after WWII.

It was dismantled during WWII in order to be kept protected from the war events,  finally, it was reassembled and placed in the Museum in 1950. The large model was designed on the initiative of Giuseppe Fiorelli, supervisor of the excavations of Pompeii from 1861and curator of the Museum from1863 to 1875. 

It was really good to visit the museum after visiting the ruins, although it does not matter in what order you visit, I would certainly recommend a visit to this museum. History and culture made us hungry, so we went in search of another Naples experience. 

Pizza in Naples – The pizza in Naples can arguably claim to be the best in the world since Naples is its birthplace. The pizza Napoletana originated in Naples and is prepared with simple and fresh ingredients, such as a basic dough, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, and olive oil. Apparently fancy toppings are NOT allowed! It is cooked at high temperature and it will consist of a thin and soft crust. 

Naples is one of Italy’s gastronomic meccas, with many trattorias serving some delicious meals. We chose Pizzeria Gino Sorbillo and we would certainly recommend this place. There was no queuing when we arrived around midday, but there was a huge queue when we left later on. 

The heart of the city is the “Centro Storico”, in itself a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for anyone staying overnight in Naples, the Historic Centre would make the perfect location. 

Naples Underground/Napoli Sotterranea – This tour will take visitors to about forty feet beneath the surface of Naples, and introduce them to a dark and bleak world underground.

There is quite a bit of walking up and downstairs and narrow passages. It can at times feel quite claustrophobic. There are shelters here that were used during WWII. 

The most impressive part of the tour is when you each take a battery-operated candle, and squeeze yourself through the tight, claustrophobic passages of the ancient cisterns, marveling at the aqueduct through which water still runs today. After the tour of underground Naples, we went back to the current day street level.

Our guide then led us to a family house where they discovered part of a Roman Theater in the wine cellar. We were not able to see much of this old theater, but it was fascinating to hear about this history and particularly to imagine that there is a whole ancient city buried underground. Unfortunately, it can’t be excavated, since it would be too expensive to buy the properties of all the people who live here in the modern Naples above. 

Christmas Alleway of Naples– The Via San Gregorio Armeno in Naples Centro Storico is a must-visit. 

The pedestrian street is filled with artisan workshops and hundreds of handcrafted nativity scenes and figurines, which have been here since the 17th Century. It is the ultimate place to find elaborately crafted and quite unique nativity scenes. Interestingly there are also more modern figurines of politicians and celebrities, alongside the biblical characters of Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. We really enjoyed browsing around here, some of the nativity scenes can be quite expensive, but they are hand-made and look so intricate. 

The historic center is quite compact and easy to explore on foot, although doing a Vespa/bike tour could also be a good way of exploring, we left “Little Bill” (our scooter) at home and used the public transport instead, which was probably a wise idea since the traffic in Naples is totally chaotic. 

Naples receives millions of visitors every year and it is not surprising why it would be so popular. There are enough things to do in this city to keep anyone occupied for a very long time, but with only one day to explore Naples, we barely scratched the surface. There is stunning architecture, gorgeous Piazzas and one is never far from a beautiful church or two. Unfortunately, the weather was not great for our visit, although it did not stop us from enjoying ourselves and falling in love with Naples. We returned home later in the evening,  catching the Circumvesuviana again back to Ercolano Scavi. 

Our motorhome trip did not end here, since there are plenty more things to see and explore in this region of Italy, but we decided to move campsites and left Ercolano the following day bound for Sorrento, from where we explored the Amalfi Coast and the Island of Capri. I will be writing about our stay in Sorrent in my next blog post.