HERCULANEUM (ERCOLANO), POMPEII, NAPLES

AUGUST 20-23, 2009

Vesuvius blew on August 24, 79 AD. Pliny the younger saw it all from his boat and wrote that the explosion looked like a giant umbrella pine tree. Today the eruption column is guestimated to have been close to 20 miles high. His uncle Pliny the elder was in command of the Roman fleet nearby and decided to take a closer look and died from either a heart attack or poison gas? Or just stupidity. We’re on our way to Ercolono (Herculaneum) on August 21st and Pompeii on August 22nd. We’ll just miss the anniversary.
Vesuvius erupted more than 30 times since 79 AD. The last one was in 1944 during the allied invasion of Italy. Italy lost 3 or 4 villages. The US lost (88) B-25 bombers. It’s been quiet for the past 65 years, the longest stretch of silence in over 500yrs. Given the fact that there was a major earthquake in L’Aquila in April 2009, it might have woken up the sleeping beast. It’s due.

ERCOLANO (HERCULANEUM)
Ercolano was the first city to go. It was less than 3 km from the Volcano and was directly hit with 6 pyroclastic flows of lava possibly moving at rates up to 400 miles per hour. The poisonous gas could have had temperatures of up to 1,800° Fahrenheit. The lava flow was so dense, there was no oxygen and consequently no fires, just 600° F heat. Because nothing caught flame, the furniture, doors, woodwork, wooden beams were all preserved in a carbonized state. We saw a few examples of wooden beams and doors. A lot of the furniture is at the Naples Archeological Museum but unfortunately , the Herculaneum room was closed when we were there.
In 1701 a farmer was digging a well into the volcanic soil and discovered some carved marble pieces. He brought them to the authorities and after a short time, the well produced statues, mosaics and enough to get a team of archeologists to begin digging out the city; digging out the city is simplifying the concept. It was buried under at least 50’ of rock and soil. The dig is still going on today. Less than 1/3 of the city has been reveled. This used to be a seaside village. Now it’s close to ½ mile away from the sea.

POMPEII
Pompeii got hit later that afternoon. It was about 9km from the Volcano and was hit with only 3 of the pyroclastic flows, which cooled off a bit by the time they got to the city. But Pompeii also got the shower of pumice stones and ash that missed Ercolano. When the Volcano blew close to 9’ of stone and ash covered Pompeii. When the stones stopped, the poison gas and lava flows came. It was a mess.
In 62 AD there was a massive earthquake that leveled a lot of the city. Another smaller earthquake hit in 64 AD. The reconstruction and renovation of the city was still going on when Vesuvius erupted and a lot of the residents were gone. Of the maybe 12,000 people who might have lived in the city, less than 2,000 were caught in the eruption. Some people came back after the eruption and dug out their possessions, some of the houses were looted later by thieves but after around 600 AD, the city got lost in history until it was rediscovered again by accident when an irrigation canal was being built through the area in the 16th century. By the 1800’s a full scale excavation was began. It’s still going on. Every year new things are discovered and consequently it’s hard to know what’ll be open and what’ll be closed down. They never tell you at the front gate. Nor do they tell you which streets are closed off. The map they give you is more or less an archeological puzzle. It tells you how you can get from one place to another but once you get there you could easily find you have to go back to the Via del Abbondanza (the main road) and try another route.
We spent over 7 hours in the ancient site. It was 94°F, the only shade was inside of the buildings. At least 2 of those hours were from running into dead ends of houses that were closed for further excavation. And that is why you go back another time.
While we were planning the trip, I contacted Arethusa.net and was able to reserve private entrances to some of the locations. These sites are only available with pre reservations. The site is in Italian but the visits are free.
Our first private tour was at the Terme Subburbane (Subterranean Baths) just outside of the ancient city wall. When travelers came to the city, they first went to these baths to “freshen up” before entering the city. Not a bad idea. The most interesting part of these baths in at the entrance. There is a frescoed room with a series of pornographic images positioned over roman numerals. Years ago it was thought that this was a brothel, a special room in the baths. However, the current theory is that is was a changing room. There were probably lockers or spaces under the paintings to put clothes. The porn was a Pompeiian joke so the guests would remember under which sexual act they left their duds.
The city has it’s greatest hits or must see locations: Porta Marina (the main entrance) the Basilica (government building), the Forum and markets, the theatres, the amphitheatre, the lupranare (whore house) and villas of wealthy Pompeiian, with their mosaic fountains, courtyards, and lararium (niches for the household gods). There are bakeries, fulleries (clothing dye and bleaching), and bars and restaurants still showing the clay vessels used for selling dry goods and serving prepared food like garum, a nasty fermented fish sauce popular in Roman times. Umbricius Scaurus was the master garum maker of Pompeii. His fermented fish sauce was rated the best throughout the empire and shards of his clay transport vessels are still showing up in digs as far away as Africa, and France. There was even a kosher garum for Jewish Pompeiians.
We walked through the Basilica and the Forum, and aside from the our tour of the Terme Suburbane we had private tours of Casa degli Amorini Dorati (golden lovers), Casa dell'Ara Massima, Casa del Principe di Napoli. There is nothing like being the only people allowed into an ancient site while others look on behind the bars in envy.

The House of the Tragic Poet was used as the model for the luxury bachelor pad of Glaucus, the playboy cad hero of Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s 1834 novel “The Last Days of Pompeii”. Bulwer-Lytton s most famous for creating the immortal opening line,”it was a dark and stormy night”. The discovery of Pompeii became the tourist destination of all traveling Europeans and Bulwer-Lytton's book was a monster hit. The house was recreated for a London exhibition of the ancient city but the only person allowed inside was Queen Victoria, who enjoyed a cup of tea. It was also reproduced in Paris around the same time where Joseph Bonaparte and his friends would dress up in togas and have wild parties. Joseph later became the Giuseppe Napoleon when he ruled over Naples for his brother Napoleon Bonaparte.
The House of the Faun – The faun is a satyr and probably another Pompeiian joke since the owner of the property was named Satirii. The house is one of the oldest in the city and was decorated in the 1st Pompeiian style of décor, lots of floor mosaics and simple frescos. The grand mosaic floor of Alexander defeating Darius was moved to the Naples Museum. This is an enormous house, around 3,000 sq meters (almost 10,000 sq ft) and takes up one entire city block.
The Lupanare – one of the possible 36 brothels in the city. This was a larger one with working beds below and living quarters above. The erotic frescos on the wall might have served as a menu. The prostitutes were all foreign and possibly didn’t speak latin. The customers just pointed to the painting on the wall and announced “I’ll have this one.” It’s amazing how most of the world is still so against prostitution and yet the longest line in all of Pompeii was trying to get into the Lupanare.

The Amphitheatre was built before the Colosseum in Rome and is considered to be the oldest amphitheatre of it kind. It could hold 20,000 people but it had no toilets. It was the only amphitheatre in the area. People would come from miles around for the entertainment at the Pompeii Arena and things could get a bit heated between rival cities. In 59 the games were shut down till 69AD because of a fight between the Nocerian and Pompeiian fans. As the rival gladiators were fighting each other in the ring in the ring , the rival fans broke out into a bigger fight in the stands. Soon the fans were in the arena, then in the streets. Since it all took place in Pompeii, the Nocerians definitely got the worst of it.
However when Nero visited the city in 63 AD he lifted the ban.

There are physical remains of the people caught in the eruption strewn around the site. They hid in their houses, or ran for the gate but never made it out. In 1860, the archeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli took over the excavations. During early excavations of the site, the remains of bodies were discovered in the ash. The ash created a seal around the body and all that was left inside were some bones and teeth. Fiorelli figured out that these cavities were the actual forms of the bodies and he developed a way to inject plaster into the cavity and recreate the human form.

When they cracked open the ash mold, pulled out the plaster and then reassembled bones and teeth into their proper position, although later on it was discovered that some of the bottom teeth were put into the top and top teeth into the bottom.

 

Unfortunately, some of the greatest hits were closed. The House of the Vetii (with 2 stories still standing, the Stabian Baths, largest and oldest bath, around 3500 sq meters (around 11,500 sq ft) and the House of Meander with it’s fresco of the Greek comic playwrite Meander t name a few. Oh well, we’ll have to go back again.

Italy has the only active Volcanoes in Europe and there are 4 of them. No wonder these people enjoy life to the fullest.

 

NAPLES
We’ve been a bit afraid of Naples in the past. The reputation is far worse than the city. Yes, there is a lot of crime. The Camorra is a very large crime organization and some neighborhoods are definitely to be avoided. On our first day we walked to the Porto Nolana to catch the Circumvesuviana train to Ercolano. The walk was pretty grungy but Porto Nolano was far worse. We got a few “what the *&#@ are you doing here” stares and then we made it to the train station. We even had a couple of slices of Pizza while waiting for the train. When we later told our friend Fiorella about the adventure she screamed “I can’t believe you went there. This is one of the most dangerous places in all of Napoli.” We also found out we had been walking in a few other pretty bad neighborhoods. It’s best to ask your hotel personnel first. And if you are planning the take the Circumvesuviana train to Pompeii or Ercolano from either Naples , go the Piazza Garibaldi main train station. By the way, you can also take the Circumvesuviana from Sorrento
The streets of the old historic quarter are narrow, dark and foreboding and the buildings are covered with graffiti. But with the proper guide they are incredibly interesting. And our friend Fiorella Squillante is the incredible guide. She is an ambassador of Naples. A great historian and someone who truly loves the city. It’s infectious. When you walk around a city with someone who truly loves the place, you get a much better feeling for the city. I am beginning to really love Napoli.
And yes, most of the cab drivers are dishonest and they’ll do their best to overcharge you. Naples is trying to make it easier on the visitors by putting into effect a zone pricing. From the train station to our hotel is an €8.50 fare. We were charged €8.50 on our first time from an honest cabbie. The second time the cabbie wanted €12. We told him the fare was €8.50 so he said OK I’ll only charge you €10. On our way out of the cab he agreed to the zone fare. Ask your hotel to explain the cab fares. It’s a little confusing but it’ll save a lot of money. In the defense of the cabbies, even though they’ll do their best to separate you from your euros, they are quite entertaining. One night coming back from the Castel del Uovo to our hotel in the Centro Storico we flagged down the “crazy singing cab driver of Naples”. He wanted €15. We argued the zone fare was €10 but he explained there was a night supplement of €2. It might have been true so we all agreed on €12. From the moment we got into the cab till the time we got out, about 12 minutes, he sang to us in a loud quasi Napolitano operatic voice. We laughed and applauded, he sang more. As we approached the hotel he told us one of his fares made a movie of him on YouTube. When we got back to the room, we clicked on YouTube and typed in “crazy singing cab driver in Naples”. There he was.
A good 3 hours can be filled in the Naples National Archaeological Museum (Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli). We highly recommend visiting the sites of Herculaneum and Pompeii before going to the Naples Archeology Museum. After you visit the sites, the things taken from the sites and make more sense. Most of what is on display are the frescos from all 4 periods of Pompeiian art going form 2nd century BC to the eruption of 79 AD. Removing a fresco from a wall is an artform in itself. There are of 7 layers of stucco built up on top of stone walls. The plaster gets to be around 1.5” – 2” thick. The plaster starts coarse and gets finer towards the last layers. The final layer is painted while the plaster is wet. Then it’s sealed with egg white. Then it’s sealed with a polished layer of wax and then the art is rubbed with a powder of marble dust to give it’s final bright shine. Some of the frescos are still in amazing shape, almost as if they were painted within the past 100 years.
The museum also has some medical instruments on display, some household items, lots of statues and an exhibit of “Adult” frescos and statues. There used to be a special charge for the “Pompeii Porn” but now it’s included in the price. The museum also has a collection of carbonized food (bread, meat, fish, fruit, grains) but they’re not on display. There somewhere in the basement with thousands of other items that never get to be seen.
Our friend Fiorella took us on a long walk through the Centro Storico. This part of the city was built directly over the 5th century BC ancient Greek and roman city of Neopolis. Our hotel is the Palazzo Decumani. Fiorella explained the Decumani were the streets running east to west in the grid pattern of the ancient city. The Cardini were the streets going north to south. Via dei Tribunali of today’s Naples was the Decumanus Maximus of Neopolis and from Via dei Tribunali we went underground and actually saw the old market area. It’s very exciting for a history buff.
Via dei Tribunali has a lot more to offer. Via San Gregorio Armeno, just off the Tribunale, is the area where all the nativity scenes have been made for years. Collectors still come every year for more. From Oct to Dec you can’t move on the street. And the main Duomo is just a few blocks away. The Duomo is dedicated to San Gennero, the 4th century Christian Bishop of Naples who was beheaded in the Flavian Amphithetre of Pozzuoli (the town is also famous as the birthplace of Sophia Loren). Gennero is the patron saint of Napoli and every year on the 19th of September is the feast of San Gennero which culminates in the miracle of the “liquification of the blood of San Gennero. This is all a bit weird but the essence is (pun intended) that the Saint’s blood was saved after he was killed and has been stored in a couple of glass ampules that are stored in a secret vault of a secret bank somewhere in or near Naples. Every year, on September 19th, one of the ampules containing the dried blood is paraded down the aisle of the chapel of the Duomo. The chapel is glowing with silver. It the only chapel that still has the silver. All the other churches were looted by the Bourbons in order to raise cash to buy ammunition in the war against Napoleon. Napoleon won the war by the way but even he never looted the silver of San Gennero. But in all of the silver splendor, the statue of San Gennero is golden. As the Bishop carries the dried blood towards the statue, the crowd starts foaming with excitement. “Come on yellow face (in reference to his golden likeness), liquefy the blood”, they start screaming. They scream almost in a trancelike state until the final incantation is made and hopefully the blood will liquefy. The only year it didn’t work was 1980. That was the year a violent earthquake shook Naples to it’s knees.
And yes, there are a lot of theories as to why the miracle happens, both from the church and from the “scientific” community.
Aside from the Camorra, the cabbies, the museums, the castles, the ancient ruins, the 250 churches and San Gennero, there is Pizza. This is the home of great Pizza and it still has the best in the world. No, I’m sorry to say, your local Pizzeria in smalltown USA is probably very good, but it is not the best Pizza in the world. The best pizza in the world comes from Naples. This city has a very strict code of how a Pizza can be made and it’s all controlled very closely.
Pizzeria Brandi in Naples invented the pizza Margherita in 1889 to honor the queen Margherita of the newly formed country but the art of pizza has come a long way. There is Ciro’s near Castel Uova. We ate here a lot in our last visit. When Bill Clinton visited the city in the 1990’s, he was walking down Via Tribunale when the Pizzaoilo came out of Pizzeria Di Matteo and offered Bill his famous pizza portafoglio (pizza folded in a paper cone. You can imagine the surprise of the secret service when Bill unwrapped the paper and took a bite. Bill like it so much, he immediately had another. But the best is Pizza in Napoli these days is Pizzeria i Decumani, on Via Tribunale. We arrived at 7:45 (they open at 7:30) and there were only 2 tables left. When we left there was a line of 30 people waiting to get in. It’s worth the wait.