Daily Updates
Week Six: 25 October
25 October. Julie Chang Reporting:
We finished up our long journey on the ferry from Palermo to Naples at 6:30 a.m. Everyone woke up in a dandy mood and found our way out of the boat and quickly to Napoli Centrale. We parted ways with Elizabeth as we continued on to Pompeii. After such an early morning, we embarked on a 45 minute train ride to Pompeii and then began our day. Today we visited the Villa di Poppea in Oplontis, which included many wall paintings of the second style. The villa was approximately five meters below the current ground level, and the ash fill was easily visible from the excavations. The owner of the villa was probably a member of the imperial family in Rome, and so was on a large scale with multiple wall paintings. We quickly discovered that the villa incorporated many second style Pompeiian wall paintings, which depict life-size architectural structures. These wall paintings also work with the mosaics on the floor to create a room that has specific functions. Some wall paintings will use a perspective that indicates the person in the room should stand in a certain corner, or the mosaics will indicate where furniture should go. This was also an opportunity to see the aspects of a Pompeiian house which included rooms such as an atrium, cubicula (bedrooms), and triclinium. The Villa di Poppea also had a large pool and extensive gardens, which have been replanted by studying root patterns. The day then came to a swift end as the Professor collapsed from sheer exhaustion since we woke up at 6:00 a.m.! All of us then enjoyed a lovely lunch in Sorrento and concluded our day by exploring Sorrento: a few shopped, some went to the beach, and a few even rented scooters!
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Frescoes from the Villa at Oplontis.
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Frescoes from the Villa at Oplontis.
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The Villa at Oplontis.
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The Villa at Oplontis.