SECRET POMPEII: 5 LITTLE-KNOWN CURIOUS FACTS
Secret Pompeii is a city frozen in time which is waiting to be discovered and understood. For centuries scholars all over the world have been trying to reconstruct the history of this sleeping city, because not everything has been discovered, despite some findings which illustrate the vitality of a city which was one of the most populated during Roman age.
In this post 5 curious facts about secret Pompeii, that is to say that small little-known details of a city frozen in time.
Secret Pompeii: 5 curious facts
SECRET POMPEII
Walking along ancient roads and entering the houses and palaces of this city is the best way to visit Pompeii. Mount Vesuvius destroyed it in an instant but it also preserved it for centuries, allowing us to admire an ancient Roman city.
Everything seems to be mysterious in this place and it’s secret Pompeii which fascinates the most, that is to say those tiny details which show us the life of the Pompeians.
The Pompeians didn’t know that Mount Vesuvius was a volcano
At the time of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius nobody knew that the mountain covered with wood and vegetation was a volcano.
Nobody had ever heard stories about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and nobody had ever linked earthquakes of that area to volcanic activity. So it was a big surprise for everybody to see the cloud of ash and lapilli that in 79 BC exited the mountaintop.
Pompeii possesses the oldest amphitheatre in the world
The Pompeii amphitheatre dates back to 70 BC, and is perfectly preserved and is the oldest in the world.
The place hosted circus games and gladiators fights, while in the present day is still used to hold concerts thanks to its perfect acoustics.
Pompeian graffiti
The walls of Pompeian houses are decorated with graffiti and small drawings portraying everyday life of a very populated city.
Engravings discovered are election posters or love sentences, and the most famous is “Lovers, like bees spend a sweet life like honey. I wish!”.
Tickets for Pompeii
There are so many things to do and see in Pompeii that I can only list a few in this post.
The only way to understand how extraordinary this place is is to actually visit it. and book your Pompeii Tickets now and stroll through the streets of the most fascinating city in the world.
The inhabitants of Pompeii
Pompeii remained intact for centuries, and since it has been discovered buildings, roads and objects have come to light, and its inhabitants, as well.
In fact, many Pompeians couldn’t escape from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and we can admire those bodies thanks to plaster casts made when their petrified skeletons were found.
The most famous plaster casts are two embraced lovers.
Pompeian red
Almost all Pompeian frescoes are characterized by the colour red, and it’s such a peculiar colour that can be defined “red Pompeian”. Lately the secret of the shade of this peculiar type of red has been revealed: it was actually the color yellow that in contact with the gas of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius has turned into the colour red.
But I prefer to think that it has always been red.
It’s so beautiful that I can’t imagine it any different!
FROM POMPEII TO NAPLES
If you decide to visit Pompeii, you should know that you will have to dedicate at least one day to it, at the end of which you will feel that you have only seen half of what is available to the public.
Don’t worry, this is normal and it is the reason why those who have been to Pompeii once, if they can, gladly return, to complete the visit by exploring new places and perhaps discovering new discoveries (every month something new always emerges!).
Remember, however, that you are just a stone’s throw from Naples and it is worth taking a few more days to discover the secrets, masterpieces and museums of Naples.
READ ALSO – Tickets Pompeii: where and how to book to skip the line