Buried by the eruption of a volcano, by more than 5 meters of volcanic material for at least 1700 years and unearthed accidentally in 1748.
This is the story of Pompeii, one of the oldest Roman cities that survived earthquakes, eruptions and war.
On October 24, 79 AD, after years of dormancy, Vesuvius suddenly awoke, catching all Pompeiians unprepared. Never would they have imagined that the mountain they considered a friend, which gave them food to feed themselves and the finest wine to drink and sell, would suddenly turn traitor.
Vesuvius first began to erupt ash and lapilli. Then when it was completely free of the cap that obstructed it, it began to emit gas and water vapor at very high temperatures.
Pompeiians had no time to escape and were buried by the enormous amount of volcanic material thrown up by the volcano.
Pompeii within hours was engulfed in piles of ash and lapilli that solidified around the city when the powerful pyroclastic flow arrived.
Pompeii remained imprisoned in the volcanic layer for more than 1,700 years, only to be accidentally unearthed in 1748.
An immense heritage composed of houses, villas, mosaics, frescoes and the casts of the very people who populated it.
A heritage that has remained intact despite the eruption of 79 A.D., despite the bombings of 1943 during World War II and the various earthquakes.
The Conservation of the Pompeii Ruins
Pompeii’s precious heritage has remained intact for years, but the preservation of one of the world’s oldest Roman cities has not been an easy task.
In fact, Pompeii has been exposed to the elements, weathering and pollution for centuries, which has caused an inevitable deterioration of its monuments.
Not to mention the years of earthquakes and the 1943 war, which damaged a number of buildings, including the forum area, the Basilica, and the House of the Faun.
In short, to preserve the remains of Pompeii, massive efforts have been undertaken in recent decades to consolidate and restore the buildings, restore the mosaics and frescoes, and protect the excavations from erosion and weathering.
Both with ordinary interventions, such as cleaning, stabilizing and protecting masonry and decorated surfaces, and with extraordinary interventions in emergency situations.
This work has been possible thanks to the work of the Superintendence of the Excavations but also thanks to modern technology.
With the great Pompeii project, the Superintendence has initiated a program of interventions to prevent, restore and protect this immense heritage. Not only from the weather and erosion, but also from the huge amount of visitors the city attracts every year.
Unfortunately, in fact, the increasing number of tourists passing through Pompeii’s ancient streets has also created problems with their deterioration, so action was needed to manage the flow of visitors.
Measures taken
To solve this problem, a number of measures have been introduced:
- Such as limiting the number of visitors who can enter certain areas of Pompeii
- The creation of specific tourist routes
- The implementation of surveillance systems to monitor visitor behavior to prevent damage to monuments.
This is the main reason why certain houses or areas cannot be accessed or access is limited to specific times, in order to reduce entrances to these areas as much as possible.
In addition, several programs have been created to involve the local community in the preservation of Pompeii.
For example, young people from the area have been recruited to participate in volunteer programs to help keep the area clean and to become ambassadors for the city.
But not only that, recently 150 sheep have been employed to keep Pompeii’s green areas clean in an environmentally sustainable way. That not only respects the environment, as was the case 2000 years ago, but also results in significant savings in economic terms.
