If you’re anything like me, you won’t have considered just how vast Pompeii was. It wasn’t a small village which was over run by the volcano, it was a huge city. To walk around the city’s ruins took us four hours. I think you’d agree it wouldn’t take four hours to walk around Cheddington or Marsworth. It had its own amphitheatre which is (thanks to the volcano) one of the best preserved examples in Italy. Walking down the cobbled ramp into the arena you could imagine the crowd going wild and a blood soaked entrance awaiting you amidst the lifeless bodies of animals and gladiators who lost their fight.

I won’t spend too much time describing the other buildings as the photos will do a better job, but to highlight a couple of things. Not everywhere was totally ruined. We visited a villa outside the city walls which has beautifully preserved frescos (wall paintings), and mosaic floors. The other thing was the takeaway shops (not kidding) with their stone counters and sunken wells which would have contained the hot food for sale. Lastly, we saw many buildings pinned with scaffolding to prevent them falling after an earthquake combined with the water table shifting / ground drying up due to rerouting rivers for hydro electric plants caused one to collapse.

As we got to the main square, you saw Vesuvius looming on the horizon, reminding you it was the author of this tragedy. (Last picture)

Map of Pompeii