This tour does not include the entrance fee of Pompeii ruins (€ 13 per person - free of charge for visitors under 18 years old).
Meet with Your archaeological English-speaking guide (private visit – only for you) in Pompeii in a prearranged place.
Welcome to the Roman Empire. This two-and-a-half hour private tour with a professional English-speaking guide will show you what a terrible effect the eruption of Mount Vesuvius had on Pompeii in 79AD. The ancient site of Pompeii is today one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world.
In 79 AD, the officers sent by Emperor Titus found that the thriving city of Pompeii was destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius. The history of this town of Campania region, ending that year, engulfed by ash and pumice stones, the city is unrecoverable: only the upper part of the tallest buildings and, among other things, the columns of the Forum were still visible. The volcano did not send melted lava tumbling towards the city; instead, a vast dark cloud rained ash and lumps of pumice stone. Heavier than volcanic debris, might have been as big as 30cm. Floating pumice quickly clogged up and blocked roads, cutting off escape routes, so the remaining inhabitants were forced to find shelter. As the blanket of ash and stone built up around the town, they were trapped in their homes. The immortality of the world's most famous excavation began in the seventeenth century: first through random excavations, then more and more in-depth and rigorous research brought to light this pearl of Roman civilization. Archaeologists and scholars had so access to a great amount of extraordinary material to retrace the social and economic structure and the daily life of the ancient Romans: Madame de Staël, Goethe, Keats, Nietzsche, Lord Byron, Dickens, Wagner and so on.
Pompeii was developed with an irregular perimeter, with streets and walls built in different periods. The heart of all activities was the Forum around which were administrative, legal and commercial buildings,. In a city so well structured there were of course also facilities for the leisure and the entertainment such as the Grand Theatre, the Odeon and the Amphitheatre that can hold thousands of people. The temples were contributing to enrich a city that reached significant levels of brilliance and sophistication as it can be seen in buildings such as the House of the Vettii brothers and House of the Faun, just to name a few.
Another typical element of the quality of life for the Romans (and therefore for Pompeii) is the use of the thermal bathes. In Pompeii there are two main spa buildings: the Baths of the Forum and the Stabian Baths. But most of all and wider than elsewhere, it is important the sample provided with the domestic architecture. For example, the relevant proportions and the decorative richness of the many spaces composing the House of the Faun are unmatched. We can compare it only with those literary sources that tell us about the most important houses in Rome. In total lack of archaeological evidence for the latter, in order to know the lay-out of the aristocratic house used in Rome, we must return to the House of the Faun. All these are aspects of ancient Pompeii that you will appreciate during this private guided tour of two and half hours: this visit will show you the roads, the houses, the shops of the ancient of Pompeii where this tragedy took place leaving behind a vivid picture of the life in those times.
SUGGESTIONS:
Take your identity card o passport with you for the free ticket (for visitors under 18) or for half price of the entrance fee (for EU visitors between the ages of 18 and 25) in Pompeii.
