Pompeii - August 24th AD 79...not a place to be

On August 24th in AD 79, Mt. Vesuvis blew it's top and covered the Roman city of Pompeii in more than 20 m of volcanic ash.

It is the most well preserved roman city and was not revealed until 1748 when the natural tombs of people, buildings and art were discovered and the excavation began.

Mt. Vesuvis blew it's top

The ruins consist of an entire city with a Forum, a city centre, brothel, homes filled with frescos and mosaics as they were thousands of years ago.  Perfectly preserved!  There is an area where they have stored various artifacts of pottery and evidence of daily living, but the most incredible, and horrific are the bodies of people who are frozen in time in the positions that they were in when encased in the black clouds of ash.

I will let the pictures do the talking as I cannot do justice to what my eyes see.  I really do feel as if I am walking around in the period of AD 79 - minus the thousands of other tourists....

I have a great nights sleep in a bungalow I have found at a campsite just outside the gates of Pompeii, cheap, cheerful and the owner Antonio makes me a pizza as we watch the world cup game.