-
Our whirlwind day through Naples left us in good shape for the rest of the trip. The following morning, we took the Circumvesuviana local train from Naples toward Sorrento, gateway to the Amalfi Coast. That route allowed us to catch both Herculaneum and Pompeii along the day.
Herculaneum is better preserved than its more famous cousin, being closer to Mount Vesuvius. You can still see original wooden beams from 79 AD. Since it wasn't discovered until fairly recently, the town isn't as fully excavated, however, due to the modern city of Ercolano sitting on top of it.
These places were for lunch.
All of the frescoes that survived are pretty amazing.
Interestingly enough, Herculaneum is the site of many of the first physical remains of Romans since otherwise they were often cremated. Most of the bodies were found on the shore; people were able to flee from the town but had nowhere to go. An underground tunnel from the town to the shore provided quick access, but unfortunately the chimney effect took its toll.
After a few hours, we had to move on to make sure that we had enough time for Pompeii, the next stop on the journey.
Pompeii is enormous. The sheer scale of the city was very impressive. Although a major earthquake seventeen before the large eruption drove much of the population away, it was still very much a functioning urban center at the time of the disaster.
There was a stadium, big amphitheater, necropolis, and much more.
We easily could have spent a few more hours, but unfortunately we had to be in Amalfi before too late to make sure that we could get into our hostel.
0 comments:
Post a Comment