TRAVEL BLOG

Pompeii's ruins tell vivid stories - Part 2 La Casa del Fauno Highly developed urban culture Pompei Antica recostruita Pompeii Antica was a structured community. This applies to the infrastructure, with its grid-like street network, as well as to the administration. The estimated 15,000-20,000 inhabitants were mostly wealthy, enthusiastic about luxury and entertainment, and full of joie de vivre and a zest for life . The settlement, situated on a plateau, was heavily fortifi

Pompeii's ruins tell vivid stories - Part 1 Il Vesuvio e il Foro di Pompei (c) AdobeStock 255913529 Off to the summer resort! Summers in Rome are hot, even in the Roman Republic and the Imperial era. In the sweltering summer heat, the Tiber marshes were a breeding ground for germs, and their drainage had been a futile endeavor for millennia. Caesars, emperors, and popes lacked the necessary technical know-how; only Mussolini's fascists finally mastered the marshes. Golfo di N

Exploring the Roman water network - Part 2 Parco degli Acquedotti Aqueducts - Water pipes in Eternal Rome Rome cherishes its cultural heritage. Three of the 11 aqueducts – the oldest dating from the 4th century BC – have been restored and are still in operation, but now only supplying the large fountain complexes . The modern water supply provided by ACEA ( Azienda Comunale Energia e Ambiente ) has been delivered through modern pipe networks since the early 20th century,

Exploring the Roman water network - Part 1 La Fontana delle Naiadi (Nymphenbrunnen) a Piazza della Repubblica Rome's life-giver Rome and water – an eternal alliance since ancient times. Water bubbles everywhere. Like a vast network of veins and arteries, water floods the city. No district, no suburb, no avenue, no street, no alley, no path, no corner, no square, no park, no elegant private residence, no public building without an easily accessible water source: monumental fo

Through the Porta Santa to heavenly pleasure The Papal Headquarters I'm saving it for last. For Roman Christmas Eve. La Vigilia di Natale is just the eve of Christmas in the local language, nothing particularly holy about it. The last-minute Christmas shopping business is booming. Just look at all the things Romans bring home on Christmas Eve! Cyclamen, for example, to liven up balconies and terraces that have become desolate in winter. Mistletoe sprigs for house or apartme

Stage 2: Pilgrimage on both sides of Rome's ancient city walls Via Appia Antica The Holy Year 2025 is still underway. I'm joining the pilgrimage. Three more churches are on my route, papal basilicas, but without the Porta Santa like the three large churches on my first stage and San Pietro on my third stage. Why seven pilgrimage churches? Initially, in the first Holy Year of 1300, only St. Peter's and St. Paul's, the basilicas of the two apostles, were mandatory for peniten