Pompeii: Protecting the Past

The ancient city of Pompeii has fallen into such disrepair that the Italian government has declared a "state of emergency" in a bid to save the ruins. I'm glad. I was there several years ago with friends and I found it to be a very moving experience.

If you go, take some dry food with you for the temple dogs and cats. Also take a bottle of water for yourself; these days it's a hot and dusty place. The lemonade stands just outside the entrance offers some of the best lemonade you'll ever try, and it's made from lemons grown in the area. It is great fun to sit under a shade tree for a while, sip some tart lemonade and people watch.

Do visit the restored gardens when you go. It will give you a better feeling for the vibrant living that went on in this ancient and sophisticated city. Leave yourself time to visit the many museums in Naples, especially the Naples National Archaelogical Museum where most of the art recovered from the city is now kept.

As for famous "erotic frescos"...well, I find them to be less in the nature of erotic art and more in the nature of advertising. Most of these are found in the brothels and the majority of the young women (and boys) depicted on the walls were slaves. For me, there is nothing erotic in their plight.

The Khajura temple carvings in India, now, those I like. One gets the impression that these folks are having a wonderful (and impressively limber) time of it.

Sia

Additional Links:

Pompeii Art & Architecture

Pompeii: Nature, Science & Technology

Pompeii Gets Digital Makeover

Pompeii's Erotic Past

Rare Pompeii Dinner Set

Image: Pompeii couple

New Acropolis Museum

Today I would like to share a video preview of the new Acropolis museum. This museum was still under construction when I visited Athens with friends in 2005. (1) It is located on the grounds of the Parthenon complex - you can see the temple through the windows.

What I find most exciting about this museum is the full display of the Parthenon Frieze in it's original order. As you may know, parts of the original marble frieze are in London and parts are in Greece, so the exhibit in Greece uses copies to represent those pieces in the British Museum. (I saw those pieces in England, known to the world as the Elgin marbles, many years ago. They are breathtaking). Even though some of the pieces in the new Athens museum are copies, it would be quite something to see this great work as close as possible to the way the ancient Greeks saw it.

Various countries are currently in talks with the British Museum (and other museums around the world) on whether cultural artifacts like the frieze carvings should be returned to their place of origin. These discussion have gone on for decades and have yielded few results, thus far. Scholars and others continue to debate this question.

You can read more about the Parthenon frieze and take an illustrated tour at this website.

Enjoy,

Sia

(1) Much of the Acropolis had been cleaned and made ready for the Olympic Games in Greece in 2004. The aim is to have the area totally restored. Efforts are on-going, and if you visit you can see the work being done on site.