Pompeii 2

Pompeii 2

This morning I am sharing photos of the Roman city of Pompeii which was covered by 4 - 6 m (12-19 feet) of ash and pumice after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. It was accidentally discovered in 1749 and has provided lots of information about lifestyles at the height of the Roman Empire. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is one of Italy's most popular tourist sites with approximately
2 500 000 visitors a year.

After four days of tours I had settled into the routine of taking my Canon EOS with a 17-40 mm lens as well as my new Nikon Coolpix with a 36X optical zoom. It was working very well - the Canon was fast and easy to focus while the Nikon was excellent for zooming in on a subject or in situations with low light. Today's images are a mixture of photos taken with both cameras.

The first few images show part of a courtyard near the entrance to the city. I liked the old columns and made several photos of them, however, because there were several tours there, it was difficult to make an image without people in the scene. As I walked along the historic streets in this ancient Roman city I thought about the people who, surprised by a volcanic eruption, were covered in ash and killed as they were going about their daily business. Our tour guide said that they weren't sure how many people escaped, but around 1000 people died as the city was buried in 79 AD.

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