Naples and Pompeii, Italy
Naples (Napoli) is a city you could spend several weeks in and still feel you hadn’t seen it all.
There is so much to see and do in both the region and the city itself.
Capri, the Amalfi Coast, Sorento, AnaCapri, Pompeii and Herculaneum are within a couple of hours travel and all things that would be wonderful to experience.
We arrived in Naples as it was a port on our Mediterranean cruise.
We pre-booked online two tours – the first was a 2-hour city tour of Naples followed by a 3-hour tour of Pompeii.
The driving tour around Naples was only a snippet of what there is in Naples which is a city rich in history and architectural styles with what seemed like only a few modern buildings.
Our first stop was the Duomo cathedral where the guide took us on a tour of the cathedral.
The Duomo features the remains of the oldest Basilica in the world as well as the blood and bones of Saint Gennaro which are stored as relics.
The guide told us that Saint Gennaro blood liquifies 3 times a year and is regarded by the locals as a bad omen should this not occur.
The cathedral is stunning and full of art and relics. The bones of the saint are in the crypt under the alter.
The alcove featuring the oldest Basilica is incredible in that there are several styles in it beginning in the Byzantine style. It has been there for over a 1000 years.
The contrasting styles are part of what makes it a place to see and reflect.
Next, we were taken to see the entry to the Nuevo Castle ( located in walking distance from the port) followed by a scenic spot to view the city and coast.
This provides views of Mt Vesuvius and Capri and the Sorrento peninsular. It’s easy to understand why people view this as a peaceful spot.
Our last stop was the Royal place, the main square and Garibaldi Bakery. A fantastic cake and coffee shop.
People have been meeting there for several centuries.
Just up the street is also the place where the Margherita pizza was invented to represent the colours of the Italian flag.
Then it was off to Pompeii to see the city buried under 7 metres of ash in August 79AD.
It is a very eerie place but allows you a glimpse into how people lived 2 millennia ago. It was a 2-hour guided walking tour through the heat of the day. Pompeii was a city of 20,000 and fills over 60 hectares so the tour was only a snippet of what there is to see in Pompeii.
The streets are very interesting in that they used elevated crossing stones so that your feet did not get wet due to the water that ran down the streets. The remains of the buildings have been excavated from the ash and are what is left from the weight of the ash. In places they have replaced the wooden roofs to show what it would have looked like. People navigated the streets by the different faces of the fountains where they went regularly to get water.
Houses were built around a central courtyard which provided light into rooms. They had little furniture but one of the most important pieces was a table by the door to receive gifts. Some places have the plaster casts of bodies which have been made by pouring plaster into the voids created by the space where the bodies were between the ash and the floor and are very thought provoking, seeing the expression on someone’s face when they died. Luckily most of the bodies we saw were peaceful but some people suffered in that, the toxic gas made it hard for them to breathe. The eruption started early in the morning.
The amphitheatres would have been incredible 2000 years ago and the detail remaining in them such as the marble shows how stunning the marble floors must have been. The creators understood acoustics and how to use the theatre to make this work for the audience.
The two public spaces we saw would have been very vibrant meeting places. The first held the communal public baths and toilets. One side for men and one for women. It is unclear why the men had 3 different temperature baths – hot, medium and cold while the woman only had hot and medium.
The main square would have been stunning with its views of Mt Vesuvius and double layers of columns. The statue in the square is not original but still very impressive.
There were artefacts from Pompeii stored in buildings off to the side of the square like jugs. The temple of Jupiter on the way out was what was left after people claimed parts of it to rebuild in other locations. It would have been great to explore the exhibitions in the building on the way out.
Due to the limited time it was often hard to keep up with the tour which was also getting separated by other tours traversing through our tour group. It was also hard to hear the commentary at times as the audio stopped working.
The stones the roads were made of were not flat and meant keeping an eye on where you were walking especially when surrounded by other people going to look at the same highlights. The guide’s advice to take plenty of water was very important.
Pompeii is another place that cannot be given justice in 2 hours, it is somewhere for thoughtful exploration and taking your time to see. There is the option to do self-guided tours which we would do with more time. It is also important to go and see Herculaneum which is more well preserved due to what hit the city – lava rather than ash. It is well worth spending extra time in this area.
For more information about Naples click here which includes discounts and offers.