Pompeii: Night Visions
10.07.2017. Naples & around
Until 24 August 2017, southern Italy’s most celebrated archaeological site is opening by night on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9pm to 11pm.
National electricity company Enel has renewed the site’s existing illumination system, replacing 430 conventional incandescent light sources with energy-saving LED units. However there is more to these night visits than the evocative lighting of the Ancient Roman city’s temples, forums and private houses.
Discreetly placed speakers will broadcast the sounds and voices of the ancient town at certain key points along the route: the artisan’s workshops of Via Marina, the athletic games held in honor of Apollo in the god’s Sanctuary, the bustle and traders’ cries emanating from the Macellum or indoor market, the chatter of the fullones, the washers and dyers.
The visit ends in the Basilica, Pompeii’s court of justice, where a video installation brings the bare walls of the edifice alive with moving images of the gardens, frescoed walls and sumptuous domestic interiors that the city’s wealthier residents enjoyed before the devastating eruption of 79 A.D.
No more than 360 visitors will be admitted each Tuesday and Thursday evening (excepting the national holiday of Tuesday 15 August), in six guided groups. So it’s worth booking ahead on +39 081 19737256.
Pictures: © Roberto Salomone
