Zones archéologiques de Pompéi, Herculanum et Torre Annunziata

• Description
• Cartes
• Documents
• Galerie
• Vidéo
• Menaces

NHK World Heritage 100 Series (en anglais)

Texte narratif (en anglais)

This is Mt. Vesuvius. It overlooks the Bay of Naples in Italy. A volcano suddenly erupted with tremendous force on the 24th of August AD 79. The city of Pompeii, 10 kilometers to the southeast was buried under a layer of volcanic ash in a matter of moments. Careful excavations have revealed how people lived and died in ancient times. It is just as if time had stopped. This city was believed to have had a population of over 10,000 people and was filled with life.

This is a tavern. On the pub wall, there are paintings of people playing games. There were vine and olive trees in the Vesuvius foothills. Vegetables and crops were abundant. A variety of shops lined the streets. Located on Mediterranean trading routes, a plentiful supply of fish and agricultural produce made the people of Pompeii wealthy.

Here, a mosaic picture of a guard dog. People had courtyards in their homes. They enjoyed luxurious living. Gourmet dishes were a status symbol. Extravagance was a virtue. Nightly feasts continued till dawn. All of it was buried under the ash in an instant. Those who failed to escape the hot gases of the volcanic cloud were suffocated and covered in volcanic ash. The ash set and human bodies decayed leaving hollow shapes. Archaeologists poured plaster into these hollows and made plaster casts of the bodies to learn about their moment of death. The casts tell us of their last moments in detail. People trying to escape, fell and died. A mother here was clutching her child until the last moment. The child is about 4 years old. Here lovers trying to protect each other. The people of Pompeii lost their lives in an instant. This World Heritage continues to remind people of the frailty of human life.