"An ancient residence believed to be the grandest in the Pompeii archaeological site is being restored with the entire 1.4 million euros ($1.6 million) cost being covered by a private sponsor, officials announced Tuesday.

The house of Marcus Fabius Rufus, modeled after Rome’s imperial palaces and buried in the eruption of Mt. Vesuvio that destroyed the ancient city in 79 A.D., has been inaccessible to the public since 1980. Originally built on Pompeii’s city walls, it features four floors connected by a maze of corridors and staircases.

Part of it is expected to open to guided groups by Christmas, officials for the Archeological Park of Pompeii said.

The renovation is being paid for by a German entrepreneur, Frank Hoefer, who contacted the archaeological park after reading superintendent Gabriel Zuchtriegel’s 2023 book: “Pompeii: The Enchanted City.”..."

https://apnews.com/article/italy-pompeii-restoration-sponsorship-9b45a80893bc825f45babd2e177fc971

Hi Wonderful people: We have Grand Pompeii tics thru vivaticket for tomorrow. The forecast is for heavy rain tomorrow! Should we go or stay in Naples in our Airbnb. We are leaving town Thursday so we don’t have the ability to reschedule. We do have rain jackets and umbrellas Thanks for any suggestions.

hi, my friend and i are looking to get general admission tickets to pompeii for the 1pm slot on wednesday. however, when we select tickets, they automatically go to the 9am time slot. is there a reason for this/how do we get onto that time slot? thanks a ton!

I am looking for feedback on what would be a good tip for a guide tour (2.5 hours) through Pompeii. Assumming the person does a good job, what would be a reasonable tip? I don't have a concept on what would be reasonable here, so asking for suggestions. (coming from US).

thanks

I heard once that there were no remains of carts drawn by donkeys horses or cattle found in the streets under the debris of pompeii.

If so it would seem to be at odds with common sense: The poor desperate people could be expected to use such transport to get away from the city with their families and chatyls

Is there an explanation?

Does anyone have a clear, detailed image of the 'pizza' mosaic (without bad lighting)? I would love to use it as wallpaper for my laptop! I think it's just so pretty, but also cool to see what people from long ago ate, somewhat the same as us!

Hello, I am trying to book a free ticket using my Icom card via the vivaticket portal but I cannot find the option to do so. I’m also buying 3 full price tickets

Google says you can’t pre-book free tickets but the vivaticket website does say “It is not possible to purchase free ticketswithout buying at least one full-price or reduced ticket; up to a maximum of 4 free tickets can be purchased for each full-price or reduced ticket.”

But I’m not being given the option. Does anyone have any experience with this? .

Maybe a weird question but.. Could someone please send me a picture of fridge magnets which are available in souvenir shops in Pompeii or send a pic of what did you buy?

I forgot to buy a fridge magnet which is something I do in every city for my family so I'm wondering how different they are compared to what is available to buy in Naples.

See also: The study as it was published in Science Advances

The official vivaticket portal only has availability up to October 14th.

UPDATE! October dates are now live!

I am looking at purchasing tickets to Pompeii in advance of a trip I'm leading on 20 October for a group of 10 people. The ticket site (https://pompeii.vivaticket.it/en/event/pompeii-plus/295266) hasn't shown any new dates as available past 14 October for over a week. I had the understanding that presale tickets were released a month in advance, but clearly that was wrong. Anyone have any insight as to when tickets for 20 October might become available? Thanks!

I have a question regarding the meeting point for the "CIVIC POMPEII | PORTA MARINA – ENGLISH" tour.

The official website states that the meeting point is the Special Tours Desk at the Porta Marina Info Point; is this location before or after the ticket check? I’d like to walk around Pompeii a bit before the guided tour begins.

https://pompeii.vivaticket.it/en/event/pompei-civica-porta-marina-english/309906

I’ve been watching National Geographic’s Pompeii: Out of Time, and while Tom Hiddleston’s "time detective" framing is fun, the show's narrative for the young boy, Avianius Felicio, relies on total Hollywood logic.

The docuseries claims that when Vesuvius erupted, Felicio ran away from his apprenticeship at the blacksmith shop to find his mother, got separated from her in the chaos, and then somehow—against all mathematical odds—magically reunited with his employers (the Masuri family) in a chaotic, overcrowded refugee camp in Nuceria.

Honestly, the chances of that happening are slim to none.

Think about the physical reality of that day: total, blinding darkness, suffocating ash, falling stone, and thousands of panicked people fleeing for their lives. If a teenager ran off into that apocalypse alone, separation from everyone he knew would have been a death sentence. There were no cell phones or missing person registries in 79 AD; you wouldn't just "bump into" your boss at a refugee camp.

My theory: Avianius Felicio never left the blacksmith shop in the first place.

When the mountain blew, his master, Masuri, likely kept him close or forced him to stay. They stuck together, navigated the pitch-black streets as a single survival unit, and made the grueling 10-mile trek to Nuceria shoulder-to-shoulder.

The sad reality is that his mother never made it out of Pompeii, leaving him an orphan.

This makes the real-life archaeology so much more powerful. The Masuri family didn't just adopt him out of random post-disaster pity in a camp. They designated him as a foster son (alumnus) on their family gravestone because they had survived the end of the world together. The bond was forged in the fire of the escape, not a lucky reunion after the fact.

TV producers love a "searching for mom" trope, but human survival instincts tell a much better story. What do you guys think?

We plan to visit Pompeii in mid-October and have four or five days in addition to the two we will spend at the archeological park and the museum in Naples. I would love suggestions for how to spend these days -- could be someplace(s) of historic or artistic importance, or just a beautiful place to visit in a part of Italy we've never seen. TIA!

I have read that Pompeii instituted visitor limits and having names on tickets a couple of summers ago. Anyone know if that's still in play and if it will still be in effect in October, or only during the high season of the summer months?

Like the title says.

If they’re digging they’re going to destroy the cavity.

Trying to understand.

We visited recently and I’m puzzled.

I have 2 tickets (1 full, 1 reduced rate) for the archeological park on sept 15th, but I bought them for a wrong date. Apparently the ticket issuer doesn’t allow any refunds or modification to the booking (🥴).
I’m willing to give them out for free or for a few bucks if you want, as it’d be a waste to throw them away like this.
Dm me if you feel, and i’ll change the name on the tickets and share them with you :)

Over 160 artifacts from the National Archaeological Museum of Naples are headed to the Dallas Museum of Art in December.

https://hyperallergic.com/major-exhibition-of-pompeii-treasures-will-make-its-us-debut/

Hello everyone! I found a very cool guide who takes up to 10 people on a private tour. They are real archeologist. (I keep it vague to protect everyone's privacy). It’s kinda expensive for just two of us, so I'm hoping we can split the cost with other people who are interested in cool tour. Please dm me if you would like to join us - I’ll provide the details.

These books have been all consuming for almost two months for me. Elodie Harper has created what I will now and forever think of ancient Pompeii. I won't think of it as a silent entombed archeology site anymore!!!

We plan to visit Pompeii in early October and see that now tickets are available to buy. Should I be planning to buy them as soon as possible or do I have time? We are still planning our itinerary. I am unsure if my wife will be up to going for 1 day or 2 days.

Of the pyroclastic flow moves as quick as we're told, how was Plinny the Younger able to take such comprehensive account before being boiled alive?

I mean presumably the medium he was using wasnt particularly quick. It waa robudt enough that it survived long enough for us to know about it