Pompeii

No trip to the Bay of Naples is complete without a visit to Pompeii. This vast 270 acre site is almost too much to take in, particularly in the scant two hours we had with our coach guide.

Here's a view of the Auditorium near the end of the visit. A chance to sit down and relax for a moment. 

As always, click on the image for the full size version.

 

The plaster casts of the victims are a chilling and sombre sight in amongst all the ruins

For a more relaxed and informative experience, I suggest Herculaneum, on the other side of Vesuvius. Unlike Pompeii, this was covered in volcanic ash and mud which created a anaerobic layer that led to the  preservation of wood and similar materials. Here is a panorama of the buried town that shows how far below the current ground level it is.

Most of Herculaneum is under the more recent town. It was lost for centuries: Historians agreed the it and Pompeii were on the coast, but they were digging in the wrong place, as the AD79 eruption moved the coastline by over a mile.

This is all very sifferent from modern Sorrento where we were staying.