Pompeii · The City Frozen in Ash

In 79 AD Mount Vesuvius erupted and sealed Pompeii under six metres of deposit, preserving the city, its bread, its wall paintings and the bodies of its people down to the present day.

In the nineteenth century archaeologists poured plaster into the cavities left by the bodies and made the “Pompeians” — their dying postures are unchanged to this day, some lying face down shielding their heads, some clutching money bags.

Eating is forbidden in the ruins, as is walking along the broken walls. The caretakers say: people really did live on this street.

Historical Mysteries / Naples · Italy / 79