When in Pompeii you have to visit the lupanar house

The Floor was Lava in Pompeii

The afternoon of the 2nd day of the Intrepid Tour was focused on a walking tour of Pompeii. Although entrance to the site was included a guide was extra. Fortunately our own tour guide was more then encouraging and helpful to arrange. And the whole tour was in on splitting the cost of €120 for 2 hours. Still leaving us a bit of time to do our own exploration. Money well spent. Would not have had a clue without.

And well Pompeii isn’t just a 3 Street site. It’s a whole suburb. Well by suburb I mean it was a suburb of the main city centre as we would compare.

Pompeii was a major trading centre with the homes of the elite business owners. It's main street serviced the many who flocked to the city for trade as a major shipping route. A major shipping port is probably a closer description. One with chariots buzzing through. So best to keep off the streets. If only the locals knew the giant volcano in the background was to be the huge issue.

Phalic Symbols of Pompeii are hard to spot

One of the most interesting districts that is been meticulously restored and open to the public is that of the Lupanar street. Look the word up if you have no idea what it means. But don't do it on a work computer just in case.

This building had the biggest queues to get into. Everyone wanted to check it out. One of the oldest entertainment venues with pictorials still visible above the doorways for the apparent services on offer. Couldn't say it looked very comfortable. Rooms were set up with a stone slab for a bed frame.

If you're visiting Pompeii and want to find just look for the signs. Up and around the corner on the curbed street was the main venue. So any sailor could have the privacy of heading up a street and quickly vanish from the prying eye.

 

 The Rich and Famous of Pompeii

The houses of the city were mostly just ruins. The rich had their homes. At the entrance would be a delicate mosaic. The first inner courtyard would have an open ceiling to catch water into a inner well, and the bedrooms would be around the edge. Don't worry these were only for the wealthy business families. Poor people would have been lucky to have a bed above the shop. Which if you worked in cleaning was not always a great advantage. Especially when you consider in that period urine was used as a detergent to clean clothes. Interesting and beyond gross at the same time.