Last year, 2023, I went to Naples, and more specifically Ancient Pompeii, with my girlfriend. The trip was incredible, and walking through the vast city of ruins, adorned with beautiful wall paintings, marble fragments, theatres, and villas, was an unforgettable experience. I wholeheartedly recommend it!
Oh btw, if you ever go to Naples and want to experience the catacombs, make sure it's not the aqueducts and sewersystems of Naples you're actually going to - yeah, that happened to us... None the less, it was still quite interesting and amusing.
Hundreds if not thousands of these wall paintings can be found, and freely viewed while walking around Pompeii. There are so many, and there's always something more impressing just around the corner. So you just have to accept that you won't see everything, because the city is so big, and that's just how it is. Don't be afraid of missing out on something!
This was a small shrine in a villa - quite close to the amphitheatre of Pompeii - where apparently concerts are held, in current time.
I've been reading the book "Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town" by Mary Beard, which is quite good.
Just look at those colours, they're even more lively when you see them with your own eyes. The red goes again in almost all of the wall paintings, then you also have blue, golden, black, white, yellow, pink and so on.
I have a recommendation if you don't get a private guided tour, which is to get an audio-guide. It provides you with short (1 minute to 5 minute) explanations of all the different locations and sites spread out in Pompeii. They were very well made, and just gives some context to all the beautiful things you can view.
To the very left it shows a woman walking with cakes, then followed by the preparation of a ritual meal for the deity. Next one sees Silenus playing the lyre. Just to the right of Silenus there are Paniskoi, mythological figures who lived in the woods. A bit further right there's a woman who's throwing her cloth over her shoulders - actually she flinches in fear. This is a maenad who animated the processions of Dionysus.
On the right side of the wall, to the right of the maenad, there are a Silenus and satyrs with a theatrical mask in the hand, and they're drinking wine. And the very last painting we can see on this picture is of Dionysus and Ariadne sitting together in each others arms.
The craftsmanship is truly amazing - the depth that they can create is sometimes mind-boggling!
This was one of my favorite villas (unfortunately I don't remember its name), but so many of the rooms were filled with beautiful wall paintings in a large variety of colours from ground to ceiling, with everything from gods, animals, cupids, chariots and many more interesting motifs.
This was all the different minerals and pigments the ancient Pompeians used for colouring. These have been identified through chemical analysis. Read this article for more insights into the methods and process of painting and colouring. At the very end, close to the exit we used there was a small museum, which is definetly worth visiting - however at that point you're probably also ready to get some food, and a bit impatient - we were at least!
This concludes our little journey to Pompeii. I hope you enjoyed reading about it and seeing some of the pictures we took. There are a few hundred more, so these are just a select few. If you ever get the chance to visit, I highly encourage it—there’s so much more to see, do, and explore beyond Pompeii!
Now, if you're planning to go to Naples and Pompeii, I'd recommend that you also go to Naples National Archaeological Museum - here you'll be able to view all the artefacts and objects, as well as a lot of the wall paintings, found in Pompeii. I'd say it's almost obligatory to go to that museum while you're there.
Then there's Capri, and besides being a beautiful island, it has an amazing Villa San Michele. It is THE most amazing villa I've seen, and the combination of a beautiful house, ancient art and antiquities, great views, plants and the nature is just perfect. I highly recommend that you go there. Me and my girlfriend were on Capri for 3 days - that's too much. 1 or 2 days is the sweetspot.
The second last thing I want to mention is actually a dissapointing thing - and that was our trip to Baia, situated to the west of Naples. We expected to go snorkeling a bit to see some of the underwater ruins and mosaics, however the water was quite revolting as it was filled with petrol and trash. But maybe that was just us who were a bit too prudish.
Otherwise, you should just eat lots of good food (Gelatos and Pizzas), and consider transportation before going to Naples, because it's not a logical and well thought out system.
Tips for Visiting:
We went in October, which was outside of the holiday season which was a great decision. We also arrived as early as possible - these two things meant we could walk around large parts of Park without that many other people.
Bring some water (not just a small bottle).
Plan your visit, so that you have an idea of what 10 spots you'd like the most to explore.
Get lost - I think a big part of the experience of visiting Pompeii, is getting lost in the endless rows of ruins. This might sound counterintuitive since I've just told you to plan the trip - but it's a balancing act. I really enjoyed just walking around and being suprised by something I hadn't quite expected to find right around the corner. That's atleast what I think, makes Pompeii a different experience from visiting the Knossos palace in Crete, walking around the Roman Forum in Rome, or any other historical site in Europe.
