| It's Europe - without the cost, without the politics, | | | | giant millstones, iron farm tools, and decorative |
| and without the other thousands of tourists! | | | | columns have been protected for 2,000 years in a |
| Amid the hardened ash and pumice of a | | | | heavy blanket of ash and serve as witnesses to |
| two-thousand year old disaster lies a city so | | | | everyday life. |
| perfectly preserved, it sparks the imagination of | | | | The most shocking is the presence of Vesuvius' |
| even the most indifferent visitor. Pompeii has | | | | victims. As the digging began, empty cavities were |
| become more of a living museum than an excavation | | | | found among the layers of volcanic debris. |
| site since its discovery in the 1700s. Millions flock to | | | | Archeologists soon realized that each void was |
| the ancient Italian city to explore this pristine time | | | | actually where a body had long since decomposed. |
| capsule that has taken over 250 years to be slowly | | | | Plaster was poured into the empty spaces to create |
| and delicately uncovered. | | | | molds of the bodies, which are chillingly detailed - their |
| It takes at least one full day to be able to truly take | | | | writhing agony during a suffocating death, the terror |
| in all of Pompeii's many intricate discoveries. Walk the | | | | on their faces, even the way their hair was styled |
| stone streets where only the wind and birds now | | | | that day are frozen forever in the casts. Some were |
| reside, wondering how much more of the town's | | | | found fleeing for their lives while others were found |
| secrets await resurrection. Take in the magnificent | | | | curled up on floors and beds with their hands |
| beauty of elaborate mosaics and colorful frescoes | | | | covering their faces. One cast depicts a thief with his |
| that have weathered such utter circumstances. | | | | hand in the purse of a wealthy man who is seemingly |
| Marvel at the citizens' names that will live on forever | | | | unaware of the looting while trying to escape the |
| in the clinging paint on their homes. Imagine the | | | | catastrophe. Another cast portrays a frightened dog |
| marble splendor of the mighty Temple of Apollo and | | | | fruitlessly fighting against the chain that held him |
| the other religious icons of the day. Ponder what it | | | | captive. Each plaster mold projects such an intense |
| would have been like to live in this flourishing city that | | | | emotion that visitors are sometimes moved to tears |
| was at its zenith when Vesuvius began to grumble its | | | | at the profound loss of life that Pompeii exhibits. |
| ominous warning. | | | | Despite its constant reminder of death and |
| The excavation of Pompeii has been nothing short of | | | | destruction, Pompeii proves that life continues to |
| astonishing. Such care has been taken since the | | | | overcome obstacles as the vines and blossoms thrive |
| beginning of its unearthing that we are able to see a | | | | among the silent ruins. A sleeping Vesuvius remains as |
| clear snapshot of the city on its last fateful day in | | | | a visual remembrance that life is precious and the |
| AD 79. Simple terra cotta containers for oil and wine, | | | | unexpected could happen at any moment. |