Final Post--Herculaneum and More

January 3, 2018

Herculaneum and more

Our last day was full!  Herculaneum was a seaside resort town which also was destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE.  It was far wealthier than Pompeii, the site of excavation is much smaller.  The damage, too, was different as, rather than mostly ash, smoke and deadly gasses, Herculaneum was buried by volcanic rubble.  We left early for a visit, and began at the site of the boat houses which were, at the time, at the seashore:

 Many skeletons of women and children were found here, with incredible jewelry on the women, most of which is now housed in a local museum:

There was an intriguing temple to four gods.  From left to right, Minerva (Athena), Mercury (Hermes), Neptune (Poseidon) and Vulcan (Festus):

Here’s a closeup of Neptune:

The homes were large and extensively decorated.  Here’s a mosaic floor and wall paintings:

The wine bar looked like those in Pompeii:

There was a lead container for boiling down the wine:

According to our guide, the lead pipes which brought water into the town were not a problem as they rapidly became coated on the inside with calcium; that stopped the leaching of lead into the water.  The lead pot for boiling wine was another matter.

In one room of a lovely house was a portrait of Hercules, seated, with Minerva and another female god, I don’t know who:

The women’s public bath had a gorgeous tile floor of Triton with dolphins and squid:

We went into the adjacent museum where the artifacts found with the people are displayed.  Here’s a silver cup:

Here’s a horse head:

A pair of gold bracelets:

A sieve:

There’s also, surprisingly, a wooden boat which was not horribly charred but somewhat carbonized:

We returned to our hotel and left a couple of hours later for a drive along the coast to a local farm.  It’s been cold, and, unusually, Vesuvius has snow at the top:

We arrived at the farm, where we were part of the preparation of dinner.  They demonstrated a number of things for us, from the manufacture of limoncello, which we’ve been drinking after many of our meals, to the making of various kinds of cheese:

This is the center of citrus growing for Italy, with an emphasis on lemons, and there are citrus trees and groves everywhere.  Limoncello is, proudly, a major product here and we’ve come to enjoy it very much.

After dinner, back to the hotel and packing for home.  This will be the last post of the blog, unless something unusual happens on the way home.  Thank you very much to all who sent notes and made comments.   Until next time….