A Buried and Forgotten City - Found!

1,930 years ago Pompeii was a great vacation city. Today it's a tourist attraction. On August 25, 79AD, at noon, a volcano called Mount Vesuvius erupted. Ash covered the buildings. It buried the people. 1,669 years later, the city was accidentally discovered. Even today, 290 years later, only 3/5 of the city is uncovered.

I saw it yesterday. There's actually more of the city of Pompeii than there is of the ancient Roman city in the Roman Forum. What does it look like? The roads are made of large stones laid out on the ground, just like cobblestones, only bigger. There are sidewalks made of stone and dirt that are raised up from the streets, with high curbs. (a little higher than they are in the US) One of the photos shows a typical street scene. The three stones in the center of the street are a crosswalk. At night, the streets would be flooded to wash away the junk, and so the crosswalks were raised so the people could cross the streets without getting themselves wet.

The other pictures are scenes from the city. The photo of the four columns is the city center. This was a temple. In the city center there were lots of shops like a market for vegetables or fish. It is also where some of the government was.

Did you notice that there are no roofs on the homes or buildings? They were destroyed by the volcanic eruption. The photo below is of a typical floor in a home. Read Elizabeth's blog entry on mosaics for more information.

-Paul