Napoli-Naples
Trip Start
Dec 27, 2007
1
77
80
Trip End
Dec 28, 2008
Naples,
Campania,
Italy
Friday, August 15, 2008
On the way to our hostel we did get the feeling that it was a bit grubby: there was still quite a lot of rubbish around (jeez, where were the army, off fighting a war or something?!) and also a lot of graffiti on the blackened buildings. We got the feeling that our neighbourhood wasn't somewhere you would want to hang out after dark. Our hostel, although in a typical dirty, crumbly building, was brand new (only open 3 weeks), clean as a whistle with lovely bright colouring. Our first night there the hosts treated everyone to pizza. Now that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!!
Our first day we tried to take a bus down to the harbour but Ray (yes, the MAN) read the map wrong and we ended up in Piazza Garibaldi, the main "square." It wasn't really a pretty area, but there was a huge market selling rip-off "you-couldn't-tell-the-difference" bags, shoes, and belts by famous Italian brands like Dolce and Gabbana, Armani, Gucci etc. Unfortunately I couldn't buy anything because I don't got no room to carry it.
The following day we headed out to the place that was our real reason for coming to Naples: the ancient city of Pompei, buried in 2 and a half meters of ash and stone when Mt Vesuvius erupted in 72 AD. The volcanic layers preserved the city so well until excavations began in the late 18th century that you really feel like you're walking among the Romans. I don't know what the area is, but 10,000 people lived there, and I think most of the town remains (minus the rooves). We stood in the forum, looking at the Temple of Apollo with the striking form of the
dangerous Mt Vesuvius in the background. Even though it hasn't erupted since 1944, you can imagine it must be quite daunting living in its shadow.
For me, the most amazing thing was walking through some of the grander houses and seeing all the painted rooms still with their bright reds, golds, greens and blues. Some of the murals/frescoes in the gardens are fully intact, and the rooms aren't just painted in a single colour, but with images, patterns and designs in bright, bold colours. You can still see 2000-year-old graffiti on street walls, one political slogan said something like - vote for Mr X, he's the man!
We walked right down to the far end of the city, where the amphitheatre is situated. It's the largest amphitheatre of its time remaining in the Roman world. Unlike the Colosseum, it is fully intact, and apart from some dirt and grass covering a portion of the stands, it's exactly as it would have been all those years ago.
By far the most impressive residential building was the House of Mysteries, a long walk from the centre but well worth it. It is a grand villa that shows very few signs of disrepair, and the rooms are basically as they would have
been at the time of the eruption. It's open-plan living, Roman-style. Large rooms with high ceilings, all beautifully painted, a courtyard with a tunnel down to a ?wine cellar and its own wine-press. It is called the House of Mysteries because of a perfectly-preserved room with three walls depicting, with bold style and vivid colour, a scene from the festival of Bacchus (ok, so can't quite remember the Mystery part, but it's something to do with an initiate to the cult of Bacchus and the procession).
A really poignant moment is looking at the casts made of people and animals that show how they were at the moment of their death. The archaeologists poured plaster into the cavities left by the victims as they were consumed by the volcanic debris, so you see them sprawled out on the ground, or huddled, clutching knees to
chest in terror.
It was a fantastic experience to walk through an ancient town and get a sense of history that you can't get from
seeing objects in a museum. To paraphrase one of the early archaeologists on the site - that ancient tragedy created one of modernities luckiest finds.
