Pompeii is an amazing sight -- so vast, with so many interesting things hidden within the excavated city.
One of the most poignant sights is the "Garden of the Fugitives." Here you can see plaster casts of some of the victims of the Mt. Vesuvius eruption in 79 AD. Experts say that the ash from the eruption fell so fast that some people were killed almost in their tracks, with barely enough time to try to cover their face to protect themselves. When excavating the site, workers found air pockets in the shape of humans, formed by the decomposition of the bodies after being covered in ash. These pockets were filled to make the casts, which show in amazing detail the agony of the last seconds of their lives.
8 comments:
Free and radical cremation.
WOW! Powerful and upsetting and resonant.
You've photographed this so well. I have a framed photograph of the Pompeii dog, bent backwards trying to bite his chain off to escape. It's so sad. The story of Pompeii is just extraordinary and terrible.
awesome and terrible at the same time, thanks for the photo and the details, this picture will surely stick in my head now...
A fascinating photo and story. Sad too. Thanks for this. - Dave.
Poignant...We did not manage to visit Pompei when we were in Naples (30 degrees + with a 6-month old baby and no shade (of course) in Pompei!). This strikes me as one of the most terrible events that could ever occur. I also visited once the site in Colombia (Armero) where 25,000 people were killed in 1985 after the eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano: desolation all around.
Life is so fleeting. We are just like passing clouds and none of us survives for very long. Few leave records of their being here like these did.
Great photo!I remember doing a report in high school on Pompeii. To visit there would be surreal. SOOO much devastation!
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