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Showing posts from June, 2013

Ashes to Ashes: Preservation of Pompeii

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One of the most interesting parts of our trip to Italy was our visit to the remains of the once vibrant Roman city of Pompeii. It felt as if we had entered a time vortex and were suddenly in an ancient city that had been preserved exactly as it was 2,000 years ago.  It was our mission to explore the exotic remains of the city and its inhabitants over the next few hours.  It felt like watching an episode of Land of the Lost as a kid. Mt. Vesuvius looms behind the ruins of Pompeii Photo: Artist's depiction of the eruption which buried Pompeii (from BBC 's Pompeii: The Last Day ). On a fateful summer day in A.D. 79 Mount Vesuvius erupted catching the nearly 20,000 inhabitants of nearby Pompeii completely off guard.  They had no idea they were living so close to a volcano as it had not erupted for over a 1,000 years.   Some residents chose to quickly abandon their homes and flee to safety.  Others made a less wise decision and chose to remain in the city. They unfortu