Herculaneum / Ercolano

Ercolano from the access path

Fresh from the large scale of Pompeii, we moved on to Ercolano which is a much smaller site, but still with many wonders. We arranged to join a party led by an archaeologist to ensure we got the best from our visit, but we probably should have made more notes. He was particularly strong on the brothels of Ercolano!

Ercolano lies at the western foot of Mount Vesuvius on the Bay of Naples, just southeast of the city of Naples. The original city was engulfed by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. The section excavated to date is in the southwest corner of Herculaneum and covers about a quarter of the city.

The important difference with Pompeii is that Pompeii was engulfed by lava from above, while Ercolano was victim to ash carried by water. This meant that the remaining buildings are in better condition  than at Pompeii and several have reasonably intact upper storeys. The site has been classed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997.

We were routed round via this wonderful mummified ship  ...

 

... and emerged by the large and very well preserved white statue we saw earlier. It stands on the Terrazza di M. Nonio Balbo and is named after a Roman Senator.

Not far away is the Casa del Rilievo di Telefo, with its wonderful colours.
 

We now came to realise that a visit around Ercolano is heavily focused on one long and remarkably well preserved street. Several of the houses had spectacular frescoes or mosaics, many of which were in a remarkable state of preservation.

This panel shows Neptune the God of the Sea (Poseidon in Greek) and Amphitrite, the Goddess of the Sea.

 In some ways  even more impressive was this two storey building little table sitting by the edge.

Another beautiful fresco.

 I am not sure what this is. A two ended bath perhaps or trough for horses.

Towards the end of our tour we came to the College of the Augustales, which is thought to have been the centre of the cult of Augustus. The frescoes are in good condition considering their age.

I could have done with a better commentary, but a large extent the frescoes and mosaics speak for themselves.

Pompeii

 

A visit to Pompeii can be divided into two parts: the wonderful museum (named as the Antiquarium), where many artifacts which had been stored away for safety, have relatively recently been put on display - and the vast site of streets, palaces and houses. In its day it was a rival to Rome.

 

The mummified figures of people caught in the lava flow are  especially poignant.

 
Having absorbed as much of these treasures as we could, we headed out towards the remains of the large and imposing Forum.

 

Nearby is the amazing bronze statue of a Centaur.

 

We headed off along the longest street ...

 

 

... and investigated a fine house.

Further along was the the House of the Faun ...

 

 

 

Towards the end of our exploration we came upon the Gymnasium ...

 

 

Just to the left was the somewhat restored Arena. It is now used for concerts and shows.

 

To conclude, here is a picture of the city with Vesuvius behind it. A fine memento!

 

 

 

Naples

          

                                                                        The Castel Nuovo

We are in Naples for a family wedding, but first we are keen to see something of the city and also the great sights of Pompeii and Herculaneum. We leave our rather grand hotel (apparently popular with professional footballers) and walk to the Castel Nuovo. It was founded in 1279 and is also known as the Angevin Castle (its founder was Charles I of Anjou). The white triumphal arch was commissioned by Alfonso of Aragon in 1442.

The castle is rectangular, with a large courtyard: this is the opposite end, viewed from the outside.

 

 

We followed the pavement by the main road towards and then beside the sea. There are many fine buildings on the landward side of the main road. This often crowded path brought us to the second of Naples' castles: the Castel dell'uovo, Naples' oldest castle - and yes there is an egg supposedly buried in its foundations.

 

The castle stands on a small island which was once used by the Greeks as a harbour and which was converted into a fort by the Normans in the 12th century. We had a pleasant ramble through the castle, which is now used for cultural events and exhibitions. This is the view from the ramparts inland towards the city.

 

 

 

The Castle is now surrounded on the landward side by a large selection of restaurants. Looking back the way we came we caught a glimpse of a three-masted sailing boat, with the twin peaks of Vesuvius behind it. Not my best photo, but better than nothing.

We headed inland towards the Piazza Trieste e Trento and then walked up via Toledo as Ange was in need of new sunglasses. Once that need was satisfied we continued along this long pedestrianised street to reach the spacious Piazza Dante ...

 

 

... inevitably with a statue of the great man himself.

 

 

We then headed through a warren of streets to find a grand baroque church, the Gesu Nuovo, hidden behind scaffolding. We later discovered that the scaffolding concealed a rather austere and not very attractive facade. The Baroque interior was a bit OTT.

 

 

 

More or less opposite was the church of Santa Chiara which was built in 1313–1340 by Queen Sancha of Majorca and her husband King Robert of Naples who is also buried in the complex. Inside the church is spacious and with a pleasant interior. Beyond the church there was an incredible garden and cloister. The garden features these exquisite columns with majolica tiles added in 1742 by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro.

 

 

The four walls of the splendid cloister were covered with seventeenth century frescoes depicting Saints, allegories and scenes of the Old Testament.

 

It remained only to amble back to our hotel and its footballers. Not that we actually saw any.

Brighton

We are here in Brighton to go to a gig at the Brighton Centre, conveniently located facing the sea. We are looking forward to enjoying Michael Kiwanuka and his band. The gig was first on our radar two years ago, but COVID and lock down created a long delay. Before the main business however we thought we would have a brisk tour around the city to remember sights we saw in our previous visit in 2010 and to enjoy some new ones.

We started at the Town Hall (above). The current building was commissioned to replace a previous town hall built on the western side of Market Street in 1727. The new building, which was designed by Thomas Cooper in the Greek Revival style and built at a cost of £60,000, was officially opened in 1832. Later the local police force, formed in 1838, established a police station in the building and police cells in the basement. The police cells were removed in 1965, but a police museum took their place.

We found our way into Ship Street and the imposing Seven Stars.

We wondered through the Lanes and emerged into North Street where we admired this redbrick building on the left.

Continuing in the same direction we found ourselves in the gardens of the wonderful Royal Pavilion.

This statue of George IV stands near the North Gate of the Royal Pavilion. It was put up in 1828 and paid for by public subscription. During his time as Prince Regent (1811-1820) he was responsible for the huge growth of Brighton and the building of the Royal Pavilion

As time was short we retraced our steps up North Street to reach the Clock Tower, one of the very many erected all over the country in honour of Queen Victoria's Jubilee. Our most recent sighting was in Ripon.

Now we hurried back to our hotel, passing several interesting buildings (OK, bars) ...

Then to the Brighton Centre where Michael Kiwanuka and his band put on a great, and long overdue, show. Below is is my best effort at an iPhone photo.

Piddletrentide

 

Today's walk took us a long way from Poole to the village of Piddletrentide. The unusual name of the village is derived from its position on the River Piddle, combined with it having been assessed for thirty hides in the Domesday Book.

We followed the bank of the Piddle, crossed a narrow bridge and  headed up the side of a field

We reached a hilly area with a track running though it ...

... and passed farm buildings on the left. This proved to be a mistake as we continued into a rather lovely area of bluebells.

We then started to hear traffic noise, which confirmed we had gone off piste. Mercifully we found our way to pass the farm buildings on the other side and return on the track we went out on.

We headed away from the village, noting this very handsome house on the left hand side. Perhaps it was formerly a school?