Pompeii, a city frozen in time

“An unexpected trip to one of the most famous cities of the Roman Empire during winter vacations.”

This winter I returned to Italy to stay with my family and enjoy the winter vacations. Usually, I spend this time of year in Milan, the city where I live. However, this year we decided to do something new. In fact, we went to Napoli from December 26th to 29th and together with my family, along all the historical monuments that the city offers we’ve visited the magnificent city of Pompeii.

Having never visited Pompeii, the first thing that amazed me was the size of this town and the incredible state of preservation of the buildings, as almost 80% of the buildings are intact and visitable. But not only the buildings, in fact, even the paved roads are entirely intact, and there are still even sidewalks and crosswalks made simply with alternating rocks, so that the wagons could pass through. To think that already two thousand years ago there were already elements of today’s streets, is almost unbelievable. In addition, most of the houses and the amphitheatre can be visited from the inside almost entirely. Being able to walk and even just touch the surfaces of these buildings where thousands of years ago people used to live is incredible, also because some buildings such as the forum, the thermal baths and various bakeries are really preserved to perfection. In addition, some domus (typical house of ancient Rome) have their private gardens accessible, and are truly breath taking, with large colourful frescoes and decorations still visible on all the walls.

I think it was the most original and most inspiring post-natal trip in several years, and being a passionate about ancient Roman history I enjoyed it even more, while visiting this beautiful city stopped in time for almost two thousand years.