The two dark archways in the center of
the picture are the gates into Pompeii. Pedestrian traffic thru the
smaller; horses and carts thru the larger.
The
steep road leading to the archways starts at the harbor.
Hard to believe this is 2000 years old.
In 79 AD, Mt. Vesuvius erupted and
covered Pompeii with 20 feet of ash.
The trash can is modern. ;^)
Water brought via aqueduct ended up in
fountains scattered all over the city.
The pipes
were made of lead, so people were being poisoned by the water.
Close up of the fountain head.
Another shot into the ruin.
This niche was decorated by a really
striking mosaic. Too bad the picture isn't clearer. You should
go there in person.
Karen likes little doors.
This was a mill for grinding wheat into
flour. You can see the round dark hole where the slaves inserted
wooden pole to turn the mill. Tough work.
Bath in the middle of the house.
The rooms were heavily decorated with
paint.
The garden room, with an aquarium in
the center. I wasn't clear if they kept fish in the aquarium.
These houses were large. We are
still looking at the same house with the heavily decorated painted walls.
More painted walls. Isn't it
amazing that this has lasted? Made us wonder if they ought to keep
excavating. To uncover this stuff has to cause it to begin
deteriorating.
Warning: These few might be disturbing.
Plaster cast of pregnant woman.
Lots of smaller items have been locked
away, probably to keep them from being destroyed by the weather or stolen by
tourists.
This sort of looks like the Home
Deport garden department.
These casks are so funny because they
have pointy bottoms.
Plaster cast of a small boy.
Small boy surrounded by stuff.
This was the most upsetting plaster
cast. Poor doggy.
Warning: These are a bit pornographic in nature.
Male genitalia carved into the road,
pointing to the direction of the brothel.
Our
guide made us all aware that we had an eight year old girl with us, and so
he referred to this as the Mickey Mouse Ears.
Sailors from all over the world came to
town looking for fun, and could not speak the language, so in the brothel,
over each girl's room, there was a painting of her "specialty."
It was pretty dark in there, so these pictures are
actually way better than what we saw while we were there.
