Pompeii/Regio V

[dogs4fun]

I love Pompeii and do so hope to visit again - first read about the excavations in Regio V about a year ago in Smithsonian magazine. The following is a virtual tour by Massimo Osanna (sure would love to hang out with him for a day or two). The mosaic in the House of Orion is stunning. It is amazing that they could excavate all the flowerbed boundaries in the House with the Garden.  

 

 

[cruisemom42]

Great footage and aerial views, thanks for posting this.

 

One of the reasons I went to Naples in February was to see some of the newly excavated areas. This one isn't open yet -- I think, but I did visit some areas that were new to me.

 

 

[TSUmom]

Thank you for sharing....like you I am very fascinated with Pompeii.  I have been there twice now and would love to go again but would really like a more in-depth tour.  I could spend days there but the group I have been with were fine with a basic tour and have the been there done that attitude.  To me it is a place that comes to "life" while visiting if that makes any sense.  

Someday I want to go back and just have a guide that can give me an all day tour.

[Hlitner]

Agree with the Pompeii comments.  DW and I enjoy returning, every few years, to Pompeii to discover things we have previously missed.  I should add that Pompeii is not our favorite ruins and that title would go to Ephesus (also a work in progress) along with some other nearby ruins (i.e. Priene, Didyma, Miletus, etc). 

 

Hank

[puppycanducruise]

Thank you for sharing that video.

I'd love to visit Pompeii again. 

It's amazing that so many mosaics survived.

[cruisemom42]

On 10/21/2020 at 10:06 AM, Hlitner said:

Agree with the Pompeii comments.  DW and I enjoy returning, every few years, to Pompeii to discover things we have previously missed.  I should add that Pompeii is not our favorite ruins and that title would go to Ephesus (also a work in progress) along with some other nearby ruins (i.e. Priene, Didyma, Miletus, etc). 

 

Hank

 

Picking my favorite ruins would be like picking a favorite child -- can't do it.   I too have a very soft spot for Priene (very atmospheric) and for the spectacular temple at Didyma, which most cruise passengers don't even know exists. 

 

However, I will say that if you really love ancient Rome, it is hard to put together a more tempting ensemble of sites in close vicinity to each other than Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis, and the fabulous Archaeological Museum in Naples itself. It makes a week stay in the area well worth while. 

 

Did I mention that when I was in Pompeii in February, I actually was able to visit the long-closed Roman theatre in Herculaneum?  It is still buried and is right under the modern town -- rarely opened, but for a series of Sundays, they were having special tours, limited to about 20 people per group. What made it exciting to me is that the theatre was the first part of Herculaneum ever discovered, by townspeople above sinking holes into it, trying to dig wells. You can still see where they tunneled in. They had absolutely no idea what they had found, as Herculaneum had been all but forgotten.

 

[dogs4fun]

@cruisemom42 I am green with envy! The theater in Herculaneum - were you allowed to take photos? 

[Hlitner]

39 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Picking my favorite ruins would be like picking a favorite child -- can't do it.   I too have a very soft spot for Priene (very atmospheric) and for the spectacular temple at Didyma, which most cruise passengers don't even know exists. 

 

However, I will say that if you really love ancient Rome, it is hard to put together a more tempting ensemble of sites in close vicinity to each other than Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis, and the fabulous Archaeological Museum in Naples itself. It makes a week stay in the area well worth while. 

 

Did I mention that when I was in Pompeii in February, I actually was able to visit the long-closed Roman theatre in Herculaneum?  It is still buried and is right under the modern town -- rarely opened, but for a series of Sundays, they were having special tours, limited to about 20 people per group. What made it exciting to me is that the theatre was the first part of Herculaneum ever discovered, by townspeople above sinking holes into it, trying to dig wells. You can still see where they tunneled in. They had absolutely no idea what they had found, as Herculaneum had been all but forgotten.

 

WOW!  I had heard of that Roman theater but had no idea it was ever open to tours   We have also never seen Oplontis which will be on the agenda if we ever get back to Naples.

 

Hank

[cruisemom42]

23 minutes ago, dogs4fun said:

@cruisemom42 I am green with envy! The theater in Herculaneum - were you allowed to take photos? 

 

Yes -- although it is very dark. Your question makes me realize that I have not yet downloaded the photos from my February trip -- almost right after my return the whole world went crazy and for a while I didn't even want to LOOK at any photos. 

 

If I get time this weekend I will download a few and post them here.

[bennybear]

8 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

WOW!  I had heard of that Roman theater but had no idea it was ever open to tours   We have also never seen Oplontis which will be on the agenda if we ever get back to Naples.

 

Hank

We were very impressed by Oplontis last fall,   Didn’t realize it was also a Unesco site with hardly any visitors with easy access from the circumvesuviana train.  The swimming pool and frescoes were stunning!  

 

@cruisemom42  we were very awed by Priene as well, the setting and being the only visitors. And then Didyma and Miletus were the icing on the cake.  

[TSUmom]

On 10/22/2020 at 4:39 PM, cruisemom42 said:

 

Picking my favorite ruins would be like picking a favorite child -- can't do it.   I too have a very soft spot for Priene (very atmospheric) and for the spectacular temple at Didyma, which most cruise passengers don't even know exists. 

 

However, I will say that if you really love ancient Rome, it is hard to put together a more tempting ensemble of sites in close vicinity to each other than Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis, and the fabulous Archaeological Museum in Naples itself. It makes a week stay in the area well worth while. 

 

Did I mention that when I was in Pompeii in February, I actually was able to visit the long-closed Roman theatre in Herculaneum?  It is still buried and is right under the modern town -- rarely opened, but for a series of Sundays, they were having special tours, limited to about 20 people per group. What made it exciting to me is that the theatre was the first part of Herculaneum ever discovered, by townspeople above sinking holes into it, trying to dig wells. You can still see where they tunneled in. They had absolutely no idea what they had found, as Herculaneum had been all but forgotten.

 

I myself enjoy ancient Rome but then again I have not seen any other ruins.  Rome to me is magical.

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, TSUmom said:

Rome to me is magical.

 

You are preaching to the choir!

 

I can never get enough of Rome, and the wonderful thing is that they are uncovering more and more of their ancient sites and opening them to the public in clever ways (obviously a 'must' since many are now underground and covered by other buildings) -- like the ruins of the Domus Aurea and the Roman house underneath the Palazzo Valentini.

 

I have been waiting for years, by the way, while they shore up and restore the ruined hulk of Augustus' tomb near the Tiber.  I can't believe it was left to deteriorate to such a sorry state....

[dogs4fun]

1 hour ago, cruisemom42 said:

I have been waiting for years, by the way, while they shore up and restore the ruined hulk of Augustus' tomb near the Tiber. 

Any idea of when this might be restored?

[cruisemom42]

2 hours ago, dogs4fun said:

Any idea of when this might be restored?

 

I believe the work is all but completed. The website is useless but in several articles in Italian I've read that the site was supposed to have a grand reopening in the spring of this year (2020). Needless to say, I'm sure that did not happen due to COVID. But I have not been able to find anything about a new schedule or plan for reopening it.

 

 

[cruisemom42]

@dogs4fun

@Hlitner

 

I finally got around to transferring my Campania photos to my computer. Below are a few from the Herculaneum theater:

 

First, a map showing where the theater is located relative to the excavated part of Herculaneum:

 

  

 

This is the entrance ("Ingresso" in Italian), with an 1864 date. As you can see, it is smack in the middle of the modern town of Ercolano:

 

  

The theater is quite a long way underground. First you descend several sets of "modern" steps that are relatively easy to manage. Here you pause on a landing and everyone has to put on a disposable rain jacket, disposable shoe covers, and a hard hat. Anything more than a small purse had to be checked.

 

The next descent is more difficult and follows the tunnels originally made in the 1700s. Here is a photo close to the bottom, showing the protective gear (given the sanitation in southern Italian towns, I'm sure the gear was not just to protect against random drips of water...

 

 

 

The footing becomes even more treacherous once you reach the actual site. It is quite dark and there are large gaps in the paving that one has to step (or jump) over, as well as it being extremely uneven. 

 

This is the photo of the original "hole" that was dug into the site by a farmer in 1709, wanting to create a well. This led to discovery of the site and to a number of statues found here that were some of the first finds from Herculaneum (these can be seen at the Naples Archaeological Museum today):

 

 

In the photo below I am actually standing at the edge of the stage, looking toward "stage right".  To the left is the front "lip" of the stage, decorated with alternating shallow semi-circular and rectangular apses. Just like in modern theaters, the stage is raised. On the left would be the cavea, the rows of seats, but only some of the area is excavated. The theater is estimated to have held about 2500 people:

 

Edited November 1, 2020 by cruisemom42

[cruisemom42]

Initially, the people had no idea what town lay underneath them. Luckily, not long after they started excavations, they found part of an inscription that clarified things. It was found on a statue base (the statue having already been removed) on the right-hand side of the stage. It is shown below, and reads:  ‘M. NONIO. M.F. BALBO | PR.PRO.COS | HERCVLANENSES’. Translated, it basically says that the statue represents the son of M. Nonius Balbus, a senator and important patron in Herculaneum:

 

 

 

Finally, some of the original theater steps (from the Roman era) and a photo of part of one of the side apses with one of the columns that would have provided decorative support:

 

 

 

It was very interesting and atmospheric but also requires some agility and sure-footedness, is dark, and is still only partially excavated. I really enjoyed it because of the role the site played in the re-discovery of Herculaneum, plus I am a "collector" of these difficult-to-access places -- meaning hard to gain entry to, not necessarily difficult terrain, although this one was both!  For me it was an outstanding visit. Now if only I could figure out how to get into the Villa of the Papyri.....one day....

 

The entrance details -- this was a limited time opening. Reservations were available online or by walk-up purchase, a bit like the Domus Aurea in Rome -- also very limited timings and small group sizes:

 

 

 

[MeHeartCruising]

Thanks for the pictures and narration, cruisemom42.  Utterly fascinating to me.

[dogs4fun]

@cruisemom42 many thanks for sharing. I would absolutely love love love to visit the site.  Oh yes, the Villa of the Papyri - I would also love to visit (although I hear that the one in Malibu is in a superior state of preservation😉)

[cruisemom42]

19 minutes ago, dogs4fun said:

(although I hear that the one in Malibu is in a superior state of preservation😉)

 

But not without its own controversies...

[dogs4fun]

@cruisemom42 Just in case you haven't already seen this short video on the Villa from our friend Darius Arya ...

 

 

 

[bennybear]

@cruisemom42  thank you for sharing your visit! 

[TSUmom]

Looking at your pictures and reading your explanations gave me chills!  How exciting that must have been for you.   Thank you so much for sharing!  

[TSUmom]

On 11/2/2020 at 4:42 PM, dogs4fun said:

@cruisemom42 Just in case you haven't already seen this short video on the Villa from our friend Darius Arya ...

 

 

 

Thank you for sharing this video.  I am now following Darius on social media.  

[puppycanducruise]

@cruisemom42 Thank you so much for sharing your pictures and comments.

[TSUmom]

I believe my ideal vacation would be to spend days in Rome focusing on nothing but these sites.  Special access would be incredible!!!