Pompeii - Statue of Diana

Statue of Diana, Temple of Apollo

This bronze statue (or part statue) is incredibly striking. It is in the sacred enclosure of the temple of Apollo. It appears that she is missing a bow and arrow or a chariot of fire.

Dynamic and much more dramatic than I imagined it.

Pompeii - House of the Faun

Atrium of the House of the Faun, with Faun!

This house contains (a replica now) the famous statue of the dancing faun. I saw a copy at Syon House back in the 1980's and I thought that the faun looked high. It's possible.

This house was huge with two peristyles it took up an entire block of land. It's a little hard to imagine as not much above ground level has survived. But still a little overwhelming.

The mosaic in the tablinium is also a copy, the original mosaic is in the archeological museum in Naples, though it still overwhelms. It is a magnificent piece of work. Full of action and depth, it records the battle of Alexander the Great and Darius II of Persia. I read once that it was thought that this was a copy of a well known Greek painting now lost to time. Sort of like having an etch-s-sketch of the Mona Lisa survive.

Mosaic of Alexander vs. Darius II (copy in situ)

Pompeii - House of Julia Felix

Garden colonnade, House of Julia Felix

House of Julia Felix: Over by the Gladiator school and the Amphitheater, nudge-nudge know what I mean. So this rich chick (possibly formerly rich chick) was renting out a huge suite in this house. This house had its own private bath that’s how exclusive this place was. Craxy!

I read a little later that at the time of the eruption the baths were open to the public, or at least an exclusive public that liked the idea of an exclusive set of baths. Think of the Forum Baths as 24 Hour Fitness and these as the Multnomah Athletic Club.

Unfortunately it was not open at the time we visited, however there was a nice view towards the garden and the colonnade with its delicate square fluted columns.

Pompeii - House of Venus

The rain hit us really hard several times during the day, luckily there were plenty of places to step out of the rain. One of these turned out to be the House of Venus. Sometimes known as the House of Venus in the Shell. The name is derived from a tremendously large mural of Venus on one of the walls of the peristyle.

She is accompanied by Mars the god of war who happens to be chillaxin' on the left hand side of the wall.

There were other paintings throughout the house, however they did not photograph well.  You can really see the rain in the picture of the painting. 

Venus on a half shell

Pompeii - Large Theatre and Odeon

Large Theatre, Pompeii

Odeon, telmon

The large theatre in Pompeii was built into the hollow of a hill near the triangular forum in the 3rd century BC in the style of Greek theatres all over Magna Gracea and later the Roman empire. It looks heavily restored as there are complete seats all the way round the cavea. Damaged in the earthquake of 62 AD it was rebuilt with one of those stone stage backdrops that in essence looks like the façade of a really important building. Think the ancient library at Ephesus (oh just Google it!). With my usual grace I almost fell down the steps to the stage.

By the time Vesuvius decided to blow her top, theatre in the Roman empire had degenerated to rather bawdy comedies, rather like Fox.

The Odeon: this little theatre was originally covered and would have served as a place for people to witness the great roman art of oratory or public speaking. It has also been suggested that musical performances may also have been held here. The winged lions at the edge of the seating area and the sort of squat telmons are of interest.

Odeon - Pompeii

Getting to and From Pompeii

Trains at Napoli Circuvesuviana Station

Getting to and from Pompeii.

I forgot this bit: Trains leave Naples from the Circumvesuviana station with a regular frequency (about one every hour or so) and the cost is minimal. I think it was 3.50 Euros per person each way and the trip takes about 35 minutes or so. Importantly we found out that the tickets are unvalidated so you can buy your return ticket at the time you buy your outbound ticket, though we didn't realize this till we were on our way, c'est la guerre.

While waiting for the train we watched a horror of delectably ancient trains come in and out of the station, while also watching the latest Italian pop star on a plasma TV hung from the ceiling. One train engineer showed up with a brown bag with a bottle top sticking out, he shared with a friend and then boarded a train (the one at left in the picture) with another man in train type uniform and backed it out of the station. Frightened? I nearly soiled myself.

Most trains to Pompeii are commuter style (think New York City subway circa 1979); plenty of plastic, vinyl, stained stainless steel, smelling of smells that are usually personal and full of not just tourists but also people who work up and down the coast (the last stop for most trains is Sorrento. This is important to remember as the reader-board often just says Sorrento not Pompeii), so be prepared for graffiti galore, scratched up windows, gypsy children begging for money and something sticky and unidentifiable on the seat/floor/bulkhead/door/stanchion. In general just the regular grit and color of Campania. The trains may shift platforms while you are waiting for them so be warned. How? Well they run often and if another train is in the way or is late, then the platform switches at the last minute. The announcements are made in Italian and often English (in a very upper class English accent), but pay attention to the electronic reader boards near the platforms. These will always have the latest information. Train conductors of a type are usually on the platform and will happily point you to the right train. Believe me they are used to it, so just be polite and smile when you ask. Don't act like an obnoxious American from the 80's and speak English loud and slow. All you have to do is show them your ticket and politely say: "Pompeii?" they will get you on the right train. When you are pointed in the right direction, please for the sake of all future tourists say "Grazie" (thank you) amazing how much better one is treated after this simple courtesy.

Settle down into a seat or stand if you have to, there is no WiFi nor is there any USB ports on these trains, so sit back and enjoy the countryside which is divine. We left early in the morning and we granted a mystical landscape shrouded in mist, and then Vesuvius is right in your face and following you as the train winds in to the station.  Be sure to get off the train at the Pompeii Scavi station, there is another stop in Pompeii which leads through the modern town, however it is much easier to get in from the miniscule station at Pompeii Scavi. Here you can also find peeps for guides or for trips to the top of Vesuvius, sort of disappointed that I didn't know that you could go to the top of Vesuvius. Oh well next time.

Porto Marina is the entrance from the train station Pompeii Scavi into the ruins. It’s all fairly easy to familiarize yourself with. As soon as you get off the train there is a sign that points the way and about 100 yards (if that) down the road there is the ticket building with it’s attached gift shop, which mostly has books and audio guides. I had a map of Pompeii already, but they had a nice selection of books and guides so I picked up a new one for only 10 Euros and was quite pleased with it.

The Porto Marina used to be the seawards gate to the city. I suppose it still is, however the sea is a lot further away than it was in AD 79. The gate has two arches, a smaller one on the left for pedestrians and a larger one on the right for carts and animals. Oddly once you pass through the arches you are under a single barrel vault. One vault to rule them all! OK, enough of that.

We returned to Naples late in the day after heading out of Pompeii north to the Villa of the Mysteries (a must see destination, I mean it, really, I'll post that soon). Getting back to the train station from the Villa of the Mysteries was a bit of a walk and we thought we were lost a number of times. I suppose it might be a little more obvious in the tourist season, but being the only people walking down an unmarked road in Campania is slightly unnerving. Eventually we found the train station, after being splashed rather heavily with mud by an oncoming car. Bought a return ticket to Napoli (as we had only figured out the ticket system that morning) from the wee station there and raced through the subterranean passage under the tracks (remembering to validate ticket at the last moment at the entrance to the staircase, a nightmare for a fire marshal) for the train back to Naples. Which did stop at Piazza Garibaldi (the local train station underneath Napoli Centrale) though that was further from our hotel. Didn’t really matter. After walking up and down all over Pompeii for eight hours another 22 blocks was not going to be any bother. Though I lost track of how many people tried to sell me fake Louis Vuitton handbags on the way up Umberto I.

Arrived relatively unmolested at Hotel Naples  for a very well earned nights sleep...though I know I had a pizza and chips (French fries) at Pompeii, I have no idea what I ate that night.

Pompeii - Gladiator Barracks

Gladiator Barracks from above

Reconstructed colonnade

Just east of the triangular forum are the gladiator barracks. Which is also where it started to rain, and I began to regret not bringing an overcoat.

The barracks actually started out as a public colonnaded walk connected with the large theatre. The idea (as mentioned by Vitruvius) was that one could take a stroll in said colonnade during intervals in-between performances (sort of like the colonnade and fountain in front of the Keller Auditorium (Portland, Oregon) or the plaza at Lincoln Center (NYC))  I imagine that it was probably another area full of people trying to flog you stuff too. Rat on a stick, roasted otters noses, genuine purple from Tyre (made in someones garden shed), lovely jewelry that would turn your fingers green, papyrus postcards, silly hats, that sort of general street bazaar thing one always sees in movies.Well maybe not in reality, but it’s just how my brain works.

Columns, looking towards theatre and odeon

The original function was lost after the colonnade suffered severe damage during the earthquake of 62 AD. It was then converted into barracks for the gladiators who fought at the amphitheater down the road.

This building has been heavily reconstructed for better or worse, though I must say it does look rather impressive. Part of the roof has been recreated forming a lovely shady spot in summer and a place out of the rain in winter. There are also restrooms here (remember that, you might need that information in an hour or so). Clean restrooms.

The seventy four columns are carved in the Doric fashion out of tufa, the lava rock of the region. Some of the few columns apparently not made out of brick and then covered in painted stucco. I can imagine there must have been some pretty brilliant graffiti around here.

Alex with tufa column in the gladiators barracks, regretting not bringing raincoat....

Pompeii - Triangular Forum and Doric Temple

Ruins of Doric temple in the Triangular Forum

The triangular forum contains the ruins of Doric temple, which was dedicated to Hercules sometime in the sixth century BCE. I must admit that I was really surprised at how small the temple was, but I keep forgetting that temples, unlike churches today, were not jam packed with worshipers twice a day and three times on Sunday. The remaining stone columns and blocks sitting on a raised platform shows that it was very similar in design to the old Greek colony temples in Paestum and Sicily though much much smaller in scale. 

It consisted of a raised stepped platform, on which would have been the cella. Surrounding the cella on all four sides fluted columns with wide flat capitals would have sprung directly from the platform. There would have been and architrave above this and most likely sculpture on each of the pediments. I'm not sure if this was found and sent to a museum, or if it was removed after the earthquake of AD 62. 

 

A benefit of arriving so early was being able to catch the interplay of the mist and sunlight. When we came upon the temple the light was filtering through the trees as the morning mist was just beginning to dissipate creating a couple of my favorite photographs from Pompeii. Pretty darn ethereal....spooky even.

Semi-circular bench Triangular Forum

Sort of behind the temple at the southernmost end of the triangular forum is a semi circular stone bench that overlooked the edge of the lava spur cliff that the forum and temple are perched upon.It was dedicated by the same two blokes that donated the white marble sundial on the ionic column in the forum.

I was expecting some great religious significance to this bench. the winged lion supports were pretty impressive. The proximity to the temple would also lead one to believe this. However it was apparently built there because the view was nice.

Doric temple in the triangular forum

Pompeii - Regio VIII, Insula 2

Corner detail

We got to see a number rather interesting and little seen sites along the southernmost alley/street within the walls of Pompeii. Again, thanks to Michael who wanted to gravitate away from large crowds of large tourists (ok, it was December there weren’t many crowds, except at the cafeteria). I of course had a minor panic attack because we were not following the route the guidebook told us to go. I eventually relented as it was quite serendipitous as these pictures from an unnamed house in Regio VIII insula 2 prove. The paintings are in the Third Style and are incredibly vivid. 

A lovely mosaic of a wolf was also in the same Regio, though I cannot remember if it was actually the same house as the paintings.

 

Pompeii - Basilica

Basilica looking towards tribunal

Pompeii! I have wanted to go to Pompeii since I was knee-high to a grasshopper. I finally got my chance on a rather wet, foggy day in December.

The Basilica in Pompeii was built sometime in the late second early first century BC. From what I have read it started out as a covered market and it was only in the Imperial era (probably under Augustus) that itbecame the city’s law court.

I don’t know whether the center aisle was actually covered or not. There don’t appear to be any windows, but then again not much of the upper wall has remained either. This was really our first stop in Pompeii after the Porta Marina, and the first to really give a glimpse of the really magnificent architecture that existed here before the eruption.

The building is divided into three aisles with the center one being the widest. The columns framing this center aisle were monumental in scale, as were their stumpy ruins. Though like most things in Pompeii they were made out of brick covered with stucco then painted to resemble marble. The truncated columns remaining show that each layer of brickwork was made up of many different brick shapes (diamonds, squares, concave, convex) fitted together to form the fluted columns. Tried to count them all and then realized that each layer also had different sizes as they got taller.

Basilica looking towards forum (the white columns)

The tribunal on the western end of the basilica is a two story affair where the magistrates would mete out justice (or lack of justice). The tribunal was added in the first century AD and the Corinthian columns have a delicate grace that is lacking in the engaged ionic columns on the walls of the structure. Must have been an impressive sight though, especially if you were quaking in your boots waiting to be sentenced, or just told whether you had won your lawsuit.

Directly in front of the tribunal is a rectangular plinth of ruble and brick that still has a few pieces of the marble covering attached. Most of the reconstructions I have seen show this topped off with an equestrian statue of Augustus. Most likely, though it really could have been any one of the Caesars by AD 79.

Up close and personal with the tribunal

Naples - Neptune Fountain

Neptune (oooh what a big trident I have) Fountain

This 16th century traveling fountain is currently taking up a great deal of space on the Via Medina right off the Piazza Municipale (at least that is where it is as of writing) in a sort of in a pedestrian zone.Or at least as much of a pedestrian zone as you can get in Naples.

The fountain is an exquisite jumble of symbolic and mythological elements, nymphs, caryatids, heraldic lions, shields, sea horses and great floppy crowns all topped off with an inelegant one handed statue of Neptune holding a surprisingly over-sized thick trident (compensate much?).

It’s been moved a lot over the centuries and funnily enough the guidebook of Naples that I bought shows it in a different position in front of the town hall in Piazza Municipale.

It seems a little awkward and out of place where it is right now. Still better than the Elk Fountain in Portland, Oregon.