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| HALF DAY TOUR |
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| Included Highlights |
 Pompeii is the most famous and visited archaeological site in the world, it was visited in 2008 by over 2,000,000 people. |
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Pompeii is the most famous and visited archaeological site in the world, it was visited in 2008 by over 2,000,000 people.
Pick up directly from your hotel or indicated meeting point, where, it is through the municipalities forming part of the Sorrentine peninsula and continue to State Road 145 "Sorrento", where you can admire the Sorrentine peninsula in all its glory ! After a journey of about 30 minutes to get to Pompeii. Pompeii was founded around the eighth century BC by Osci who settled and divided it into 5 villages at the southern foot of Mount Vesuvius, not far from the river Sarno, then navigable. The number five, in Oscan, probably derives the name of the town. The first settlements date back to the Iron Age, or the IX - VII century BC C., when there was the culture of "graves". Pompeii at that time was a very important commercial centre, so that it was a target for expansion by the Greeks and the Etruscans before, the Samnites later. The Samnites had the merit of having enlarged the walls of the town, and giving it a large urban development. At this time there was a strong architecture impulse: a triangular and rectangular Forum were reconstructed and important buildings like the Temple of Jupiter, the Basilica and the House of the Faun, which is the size of a Hellenic Palace. In the same period has also built the Temple of Isis was built and it is clear evidence of trade with the East of Pompeii. Pompeii became the residence of the Roman nobility and, in Imperial times, many families supported Augustus’s policy and moved here and ordering the construction of buildings like the Temple of Fortuna Augusta and the building of Eumachia. Under Nerone the Campania region suffered heavy damage due to an earthquake which occurred in 62 or 63 A.C.. The Roman Senate immediately ordered the reconstruction, but all was in vain, because August 24 of 79 B.C., when rebuilding was still underway, a disastrous eruption of Vesuvius wiped it out completely with, Herculaneum, Stabia and Oplonti. There was almost no escape for anyone and the thriving Pompeii was only a cloak lava often up to three meters and cemented the inhabitants and destroyed all manner of life. From this great tragedy the famous archeological excavations of Pompeii, where began and been brought to light the ancient Roman city destroyed tragically after one of the eruptions of the nearby volcano Vesuvius in the year 79 B.C.. In Pompeii work started around 1748, in the area of Civita, which was then believed to be Stabia, alternating with breaks due to other discoveries at Herculaneum, and continued mostly without a definite plan and without a precise method, performed by prisoners in chain and young boys. The research was aimed only at finding material for museums or to decorate the royal palaces, while the buildings excavated, once stripped of artworks, were left without any care or protection from the weather. With the outbreak of the France revolution and also the start of the first revolutions in Naples the activity of the excavations decreased significantly with Joseph Bonaparte and Joachim Murat, later resumed, on a larger scale, and more intensively. With the birth of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, the Savoys did not underestimate the prestige arising from the discovery of Pompeii. By the wish of the new king systematic excavations began: he appointed Giuseppe Fiorelli as director, a professor of archaeology at the University of Naples. Fiorelli adopted a scientific method, with logging excavation, surveying, indexing of objects, and employing more than five hundred workers. To him we owe the invention of the method of filling with plaster the gaps left by the victims in bank hardened ash, providing a kind of matrix that produces the imprints of the bodies caught in the moment of death, with dramatic intensity. The system of removing all objects from the excavations was abandoned: the paintings and mosaics were mostly left in place, the houses were covered with carved roofs which copied the layout and provide a hedge against early deterioration. The years that followed were the best: extending the search to the east and towards the Porta di Nola, bought to light many houses, consolidate the structures and restoring the paintings on the site. The last thirty years have been alternately modest exploration for the conservation, of primary importance to this unique place in the world. The excavation work is overshadowed today by the need to restore and protect this world famous site, the best example of a Roman city in the world. The visitor will realize that Pompeii offers a variety of things to see that the guide will need to select in order to give visitors an idea as complete as possible of the classical Roman city. In fact you can admire all the structures typical of the Roman world as the main square or forum, baths, theatres, the neighbourhood of prostitution (brothel), the roads that intersect the second axis east-west and south-north, mansions with remains of frescoes from Roman times, the attraction of spectacular plaster casts containing bones of Pompeians that died during the disaster, numerous shops that lined the streets and the remains of electoral registrations. The excavations of Pompeii, Herculaneum and with those of Oplontis are given in the list of UNESCO World Heritage Site. Thanks to the scientists, historians, archaeologists, restorers and all those people who are so dedicated with the tragedy of Pompeii that did not destroy the city, there have only stopped enough time to return it to the appearance it had on that particular day in 79B.C. After the visit of the excavations free time for lunch and proceed to visit the crater of Mount Vesuvius. This volcano is particularly interesting for its history and the frequency of its eruptions. Is part of the Somma - Vesuvius mountain system, 1281 meters high . It is located slightly inside the gulf coast of Naples. Vesuvius is a sight of unusual beauty in the landscape of the Gulf, especially when viewed from the sea with the city skyline. After the 1944 eruption, Vesuvius is considered dormant. This period of rest is atypical, and the eruptive activity appears severely delayed. For some reason, still mysterious, the duct, virtually always open since 1631, must have been blocked in depth, or should have emptied its "pockets" of magma that fed the cyclic activity, so the volcano apparently inert as it was before 1631. On clear days the most famous volcano in Europe, offers spectacular and striking views, leaving the eye to wonder over the sea, islands and the archaeological excavations of the cities buried by the eruption of 79AC. . A few years earlier, in 62 AC., a terrible earthquake, premonitory of a far worse catastrophe that would have struck in a few years the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum and other towns in Campania. Since dawn of that day in 79 AC., on Mount Vesuvius appeared a large cloud. At ten o'clock in the morning the gases that were pressing inside exploded and the solid lava, that blocked the volcano crater, reducing it in to ash and liquid lava. The ash was so thick that it blocked out the sun. Since that terrible day the cities have ceased to exist and remained buried for centuries under a blanket of over 6 meters of ash and lava. With the coach we will reach a height of 1000 meters, then continuing walking along a path and reaching the peak of the volcano, for an impressive view of the crater visited with a specialized mountain guide. Return to Sorrento in the afternoon.
Lunch and entrance fees not included.
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| Departures: |
Send to friend |
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Operation Dates: 01 May/31 October
Operation Days: Sundays
Departure: Centrally located Sorrento Hotels
Departure time: 07.30AM |
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| Price: |
Adults : $ 64.00
Children (3-16) : $ 64.00
Seniors (60+)/Students (with ID) : $ 64.00
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