Maura's Parents Visit: Pompeii & Oplontis

April 1st

Yesterday we went to Herculaneum.  We purchased the multi-site pass and now we are visiting Pompeii.  For those keeping track at home, this is my third trip to Pompeii.   I have tried to make sure that I'm only adding new photos.
If you would like to review, here are Pompeii Visit #1 and Pompeii Visit # 2.

This time we entered through the Porta Marina Gate.  

This would have been the main entry for people visiting Pompeii back when there were people living here.  

This is a view of the Porta Marina and the Suburban Baths.

The Suburban Baths were privately owned and eminent due to its scenic position.

Neat floor mosaics.

 The Mars mosaic in the cold pool room.   Also Dad and me.
That's the water-line for my backpack bladder.  Not some weird thing attacking me.

Outside of the baths.  This is a good example of how what I thought I knew about Greek/Roman buildings is a lie.  I always thought everything they made was made of out huge marble/stone slabs.  Nope!  It's brick, with stucco, that's then sculpted or painted to look like huge stone slabs.

Basillica

The Basillica was built in the second half of the 2nd century BC.  

It was dedicated to administering justice and business negotiations.  

It was not a place of religious worship.

This is the one end of the Forum.  Look at all the columns!

I made them pretend to be statues.
I mean what's the point of empty plinths if you aren't going to make people pretend to be statues?

Ye, ancient automatic dog feeder.
I actually have no idea what that thing is supposed to be.

House of the Vettii

The House of the Vettii was closed, but you could look through the bars to see this fresco.
This is Priapus, a minor god of fertility, weighing his penis against a large bag of money.
I don't know, don't ask.

Unknown House

Pretty frescoed walls in an unknown house.  It's not on the Pompeii map or listed in the guidebook.
I don't know why, as it has some of the best frescoes in Pompeii, in my opinion.

Little birds eating cherries.

House of the Amorini Dorati

This house is from the 3rd century BC and has many mosaicked floors and frescoed walls.
It also has a pretty central garden.

Pretty central garden.

Random House

Random wealthy house ruins.

A view from the south side of Pompeii looking over what would have been an olive grove, into the city, and Vesuvius lurking in the background.

Mom and Dad at the Forum.

South West ruins.

This concludes our tour of Pompeii.

Next adventure, Oplontis.


Oplontis

Oplontis was another city that was destroyed by the 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius.
All that remains at this point is Villa Poppaea, or at least it's all that has been excavated.
Like Herculaneum, Oplontis is underneath the modern city.

Villa Poppaea belonged to Nero's second wife, Poppaea Sabia.
She resided here when she was not in Rome.

Many frescoes remained well intact as the roof did not collapse under the ash.

Remains of a wooden partition.

Detailed frescoes still remain.   You can imagine how ornate the whole villa would have been.
Almost all of the walls would have been painted.

Contrast between barren and painted walls.

We did not have too much time at Oplontis, mostly due to it closing at 17:00.
We walked through it quickly, but as we were almost the only ones there, still saw much of it.

This concludes our tour of Oplontis and our adventures for today.