We hadn’t completed our tour of Pompeii and decided to visit
again today. Jane decided that she really wanted to see the Villa of the
Mysteries that is in the extreme N.W. of the site, outside the city walls. The
route took us through the necropolis (cemetery) outside the Herculaneum Gate.
It was very impressive, with huge monuments to the wealthy and a range of
arcaded shops that sold goods, food and drink to people arriving at the city or
visiting their much-loved relatives.
On then to the Villa Diomede – a hugely impressive 3-storey villa with a
beautiful garden and what must have been a gorgeous view over the Bay of
Naples. I would have been very happy to have lived there. They must have been
very sure of the Roman rule to have built such a prestigious villa outside the
security of the walled city.
Next came the Villa of the Mysteries with its fantastically well preserved
frescoes, especially in the Room of the Mysteries where the frescoes could have
been painted yesterday. The black painted room with the Egyptian-themed
decoration was also intriguing, with crocodiles, Anubis and other Egyptian
figures all around the walls. Another very wealthy family villa with fantastic
sea views – they obviously appreciated views as much as we do today.
Jane decided that she had had enough and went back to the van whilst I
continued for another four hours, investigating the areas that we hadn’t yet
visited. My favourites were the House of the Vetti that we had left early on
Thursday because it was closing; the House of the Silver Wedding and the House
of Marco Lucrezio Frontone. The latter is hidden away and little visited but
has some lovely frescoes that the visitor is able to get really close to.
On the way back to the van I passed another motorhome with a DAY personalised
numberplate. Jane spotted it originally and we had passed it a number of times
but the owners weren’t there. This time they were there and I stopped to say
hello. His relatives weren’t from the Croydon area like mine, so we were
probably only distantly related. They told me about their neighbours on the
site that had been invaded by ants that had crawled up the electric cable and
got through the hook-up socket. This explained the many patches of white powder
that we had seen in our area of the campsite.
Photos: The necropolis by the Herculanium Gate with a tomb on the left, a water
tower on the right, a fountain in the middle and the arcaded shops in the
background; Looking down on the garden of the Villa Diomede; Looking back at
the villa over the garden; Part of the frescoes of the Room of the Mysteries; Another
of the 30+ bakeries in Pompeii; One of the tabernas – this one had two rooms
for guests behind the bar; This is one of those rooms with frescoes – the one
on the left showing people playing dice; A ship fresco in the Villa of the
Vetti; A thermopolium in sector V – a posher version of a taberna where a
selection of freshly cooked food was available.
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