Another question always asked by every visitor is:How can it be possible that the people forgot Pompeii and that nobody founded before?
 |
| VIA DELLE TOMBE |
The eruption of 79 ad irrevocable altered the geography of the area. The Sarno river now runs further to the south and cannot be seen from Pompeii walls, the coastline too, is now approximately 1km further from the town than it was in ancient times and then the volcanic material that filled up the cities and preserved it for us. Eventually the fertile earth covering Pompeii wuld be farmed and vineyards would climb the slopes of the Vesuvius.
 |
| TERME SUBURBANE |
The existence of the ancient towns was largely forgotten
except by local people who often made discoveries of ancient artifacts when
digging wells. During the renaissance when allusion to the buried cites were
found in ancient literature, above all in the letters of Pliny that describe the
eruption, the interest for these towns wans renewed.
The official version:
1709 hearing of the discoveries of colored pieces of
marble in Resina the Austrian Prince d’Elbeuf purchase the property of the
discovery because he wanted to acquire marbles to decorate a villa he was
building.
He excavated the spot and believed he had found an old
temple; in fact, he had been sunk in the theater of Herculaneum. Over the next
few years, the theater was plundered of its marble and its bronze statue.
In 1735 Charles, son of Philip V of Spain, wrested
southern Italy from Austrian control and established an autonomous monarchy
there. He made Naples capital.
He sought to gain status and regard for his fledgling
kingdom by encouraging cultural and artistic passion. Opera art archeology
where is real passion and stole his complete attention.
 |
| dettaglio colonna Julia Felix |
What the most people think….
Although the formal rediscover is dated in the 18th
century, there is evidence to suggest that the location of these places had not
been completely forgotten. Ancient writers continued alluding to the eruption
for centuries after it occurred and antique maps give the location of Pompeii
and Herculaneum (not always correct); B.E the Peutinger Table that is a medieval
copy of a Roman road map dating to the 4th century BC)
We are sure that treasure hunters where plundering the
towns. Late and antique lamps dating from the 6th to the 16th
centuries where found in the suburban bath, in the Praedia Julia Felix and the
house of Fabius Rufus. Starting from the 16th centuries there are
reports of local people discovering inscriptions coins wall painting and column
on their property.
 |
| Detail of San Marco Villa |
Let’s say that the formal beginning in 1738 was in
reality the culmination and officialization of these activities rather than a
new beginning.
And now
We have the great opportunity of continuing a discovery,
absorbing an example of daily life of thousand of years ago, learning and
admiring great and timeless art.
Commenti
Posta un commento