The day was stiflingly hot, not unusual on a summer's day in southern Italy. People were going about their daily routine, heading homewards for a light lunch and a siesta or making their way to the baths to catch up with the latest gossip. Everything seemed normal. Then with an ear-splitting roar, Vesuvius - the vine-clad mountain overlooking the town - erupted with terrifying force. For the town, and many of its inhabitants, life was at an end. The place - Pompeii, the date; 24 August 79 AD.
Everyone with an interest in the past should visit Pompeii. This Pompeii tour, based at the comfortable Aequa Hotel in the charming village of Vico Equense on the Sorrento peninsula, presents the ideal opportunity. However, there is much more to see. Herculaneum is smaller and less well known than Pompeii, but equally fascinating; while the fabulous villa of Oplontis, thought by some to have belonged to Poppaea, wife of the emperor Nero, gives an insight into the lives of the aristocracy. Numerous works of art from these sites, as well as everyday objects, are in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.
|
Long before the coming of Rome, Greeks had settled in this part of Italy. We visit the first Greek colony, at the evocative site of Cuma, and experience first hand why the Phlegraean, or Fiery, Fields were so named. We also explore the Greek colony of Poseidonia, later named Paestum by the Romans, with its three magnificent Greek temples, the equal of any in the Greek world. In the site museum we see unique Lucanian tomb paintings and the only Greek painting in Italy, the Tomb of the Diver.
Included in the Pompeii tour is an ascent of Vesuvius, partly by coach and partly on foot, and a more relaxing final day with a drive along the magnificent Amalfi coast road and a visit to the scenic and dramatically sited mountain village of Ravello.
You will be accompanied on this Pompeii tour by historian Mike Clegg, who has great knowledge of the archaeology of the Naples area and the history of the classical world.
|
