05-05-2006, 07:39 PM
Pompeii can get crowded, but its so big that one can lose the crowds fairly easily. One major problem is that so much of it is off-limits for restoration - you can count on at least half of the better known houses being 'closed' for one reason or another. Even so, there's plenty to see - certainly be sure to visit the Villa of the Mysteries, outside the city to the north west, along a road lined with funerary monuments; the villa itself is one of the better examples of a late republican/early imperial villa suburbana turned factory (!).
I'd say the more reading about the site you can do before visiting, the better - there's quite a lot of stuff on the net. House plans are useful, as they allow a better appreciation of how space was arranged This site has a selection of splendid houseplans, many of them the less-known ones from the southern city fringe, overlooking the sea, with neat underground rooms - most of these particular houses are off limits (some of them, I think, have been 'closed' since original excavation in the late 19th century, which gives some idea of the scale of work at Pompeii!).
The site itself is easy to reach - take the circumvesuvia railway from the main rail station at Napoli (just down the steps outside the main entrance and turn right at the bottom - buy a ticket from the newspaper kiosk beside the turnstiles). Another good place in the area is the 'imperial' villa at Oplontis, in the middle of the far-from-picturesque modern town of Torre Anunziata. It's a short hot hike from the station, but the villa itself is huge and well preserved, and also (when I visited) almost completely deserted. You can get a ticket for Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis and Stabiae, incidentally.
Villa Oplontis
One more place that's worth a visit, if only for the setting, is the 'Villa of Pollio Felix', on the headland west of Sorrento - it's almost totally ruined, but spectacularly sited, with a semi-natural seawater bathing pool and brick substructure - makes for a good scenic walk at the end of a Roman-ruin-viewing week, if you have the time...
- Nathan
I'd say the more reading about the site you can do before visiting, the better - there's quite a lot of stuff on the net. House plans are useful, as they allow a better appreciation of how space was arranged This site has a selection of splendid houseplans, many of them the less-known ones from the southern city fringe, overlooking the sea, with neat underground rooms - most of these particular houses are off limits (some of them, I think, have been 'closed' since original excavation in the late 19th century, which gives some idea of the scale of work at Pompeii!).
The site itself is easy to reach - take the circumvesuvia railway from the main rail station at Napoli (just down the steps outside the main entrance and turn right at the bottom - buy a ticket from the newspaper kiosk beside the turnstiles). Another good place in the area is the 'imperial' villa at Oplontis, in the middle of the far-from-picturesque modern town of Torre Anunziata. It's a short hot hike from the station, but the villa itself is huge and well preserved, and also (when I visited) almost completely deserted. You can get a ticket for Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis and Stabiae, incidentally.
Villa Oplontis
One more place that's worth a visit, if only for the setting, is the 'Villa of Pollio Felix', on the headland west of Sorrento - it's almost totally ruined, but spectacularly sited, with a semi-natural seawater bathing pool and brick substructure - makes for a good scenic walk at the end of a Roman-ruin-viewing week, if you have the time...
- Nathan
Nathan Ross
