Pompeii
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A world-famous heritage site, one of Italy's premier tourist attractions and one of the most important archaeological sites on Earth for its Roman remains and relics: it's the largest and best preserved Roman town. It is also a dark-tourism spot, of course, namely for the reason it was preserved so well: the ancient city was covered by volcanic ash in the disastrous eruptions of nearby Mt Vesuvius in the year 79 CE. During the excavations of Pompeii, human remains of the victims were found embedded in empty cavities in the ash, left by the decomposed bodies. A technique was developed that involved pouring liquid plaster into the cavities to produce whole body plaster casts of the victims. Quite a few of these are on display at the site today and form the main attraction from the perspective of dark tourism.
More background info: The site of Pompeii was settled by other groups of people, amongst them Greeks and Etruscans, before becoming an ancient Roman city sometime in the early last century BCE. Partly thanks to the fertile soil fostering agriculture (in particular vineyards) Pompeii became wealthy. And this showed in the architecture too. At the same time the city was successively expanded, until between 10,000 and 20,000 people lived there.
In the year 62 CE Pompeii was shaken by a major earthquake, but over the next 15 years or so most of the damage was repaired or replaced by new buildings, including the Forum.
Then in (probably) October of the year 79 CE an altogether more deadly disaster struck when the nearby volcano Mt Vesuvius erupted. The eruption lasted two days and came in two distinct phases. In the first phase a giant column of ash and pumice was ejected high into the atmosphere and this subsequently, carried by the wind, rained down to the south of the volcano, where Pompeii lies, covering it with a several metres-high layer of volcanic ash (whereas Herculaneum was upwind to the west of the volcano and was spared by this initial phase of the disaster).
At this point many of the city’s inhabitants fled to safety further away, but significant enough numbers stayed behind. Then the next day came the second eruptive phase and this sent pyroclastic flows towards Pompeii (and now also towards Herculaneum); and these fast-moving waves of superheated gas mixed with ash kill everything in their path. In Pompeii the remaining population fell victim to these pyroclastic flows, which killed people instantly even if they had sought refuge inside buildings. In this second, even more deadly phase of the catastrophe yet more metres of volcanic material were deposited on the city until it was almost completely covered (some 4 to 6 metres deep).
Initially, the tops of some buildings would still have protruded out of the ash layer, and there seems to have been some degree of looting and/or salvaging of valuables by former inhabitants. Some former residents also seemed to have reoccupied a settlement nearby for a while. But yet more eruptions in the 5th and 6th centuries resulted in Pompeii being covered with even deeper layers of ash and soon the city was forgotten and lay buried and undisturbed for over a thousand years.
There may have been occasional intrusions around the 17th century but proper excavation work didn’t begin until the middle of the 18th century. Under French rule in the early 19th century more systematic excavations were initiated with a sizeable workforce dedicated to the project. It was in the second half of the 19th century that more scientific documentation was applied.
And it was also around this time that the voids in the ash layer were discovered that contained human bones. The space around those bones was left hollow after the bodies had decomposed. Shortly after this discovery it was then decided to fill such voids with plaster, and once hardened such plaster casts kind-of recreated the shapes of the victims, as if petrified in the last moments of their lives. More and more of these plaster casts were made and soon became the hallmark of Pompeii. And of course it is these plaster casts that form the main attraction from the special perspective of dark tourism.
By then Pompeii had become a standard stop on the Grand Tour, one of the earliest forms of tourism proper. Inasmuch as the plaster casts of the victims were concerned, this part of the Grand Tour was also an early form of dark tourism!
Large-scale excavations went on until the 1950s but then slowed down and continued only targetedly. It is said that about two thirds to three quarters of Pompeii have now been uncovered. New archaeological discoveries are still being made and also additional voids left by the victims are still being found and casts of them are still made (though now using a resin rather than plaster, as it causes less harm to the remaining bones). In total, well over a thousand victims have been found so far.
Bombing during WWII also did some damage to Pompeii, as did an earthquake in 1980 – but the biggest threat to the site comes from the passage of time. After having been preserved under a thick layer of volcanic ash for centuries, the excavated structures were now exposed to the elements. And this has taken its toll. Most funding these days goes into preservation and restoration work.
Tourism also puts pressure on Pompeii. With around 2.5 million visitors annually it’s a top tourist attraction. These days visitor numbers are limited to a maximum of 20,000 per day and in the peak season time-slot bookings are mandatory. At the same time, fewer buildings’ interiors are now accessible to tourists than had used to be the case. Ongoing restoration work results in further restricted access.
The word "Pompeii" is often taken as almost a generic term, or as a metonym standing for all kinds of volcanic disasters, especially if they involve some place being buried in ash or lava. Thus you find expressions such as “a modern-day Pompeii”. The former capital of the Caribbean island of Montserrat, Plymouth, which was destroyed by successive eruptions of the island’s volcano Soufriere Hills that covered it with ash from pyroclastic flows and lahars, is one such case, often also called “The Pompeii of the Caribbean”. Similarly, on Heimaey, Iceland, a project involving the excavation of houses that had been covered by lava in the 1973 eruption there (and that now form the core of the Eldheimar museum) has been branded "Pompei[i] of the North" (which also demonstrates what a marketing asset an association with Pompeii can be …).
Readers who are well familiar with this website may note that the inclusion of a site as ancient as Pompeii (together with Herculaneum the most ancient place covered here) goes against the concept of dark tourism adopted on this website as being situated in the modern age. Indeed that’s the principle I apply in general, but I’ve consciously made an exception for Pompeii for reasons explained at length in this chapter.
What there is to see: When I visited Pompeii in January 2026, it was a sunny but crisp day – the main peak of Vesuvius was even snow-capped. Down in Pompeii it was between 3 and 6 degrees Celsius, so visitors had to wrap up well. Still, I’d rather have that than the stifling heat of summer.
I had made sure to take an early enough train from Naples (see below) to get to the entrance shortly after the site had opened. Some tour groups were just being channelled through, but the queue for the individual tickets wasn’t so long. Even though I used a Campania ArteCard that gave me free entry (see below) I still had to obtain a personalized ticket to get in.
It paid off having come early and off season, as the visitors dispersed well and at times I had whole streets to myself (see the relevant photos below). It was only towards the end of my visit that tourist numbers had become noticeably larger.
At the entrance I had obtained a visitor map and on it were marked (amongst many other things) locations of the “calchi”, i.e. those plaster casts of victims of the 79 CE Vesuvius eruptions (see above). And let’s be honest, for a dark tourist visiting Pompeii these plaster casts are the single most important aspect. So I tried to find as many of them as I could.
The first set I encountered was at the Macellum (former market). This included an unusual plaster cast of a victim in a sitting position. The other two had the more common posture, namely lying face down and stretched out with their arms over their face, probably to protect their faces from the hot ash. The sitting figure also had its face in its hands but otherwise looked calmer and “at peace” with his fate. But maybe I’m over-interpreting …
Also at the Macellum was a large information panel about the “calchi” which also included a map with locations where you could find them. I compared that to my paper map and found that there were some discrepancies. In particular the panel had extra locations that were not marked on the paper map, so I got a pen out and added those locations to my map by hand.
I soon found out, however, that the locations of the plaster casts are a bit “fluid”. I gathered from older photos that some of them used to be in different locations previously, so apparently they get moved around now and then.
Moreover, several of the marked locations were inaccessible at the time of my visit, mainly due to ongoing restoration work. In the end I only got to see plaster casts at only half of the ca. one dozen locations that were marked on my map.
The same applies to the buildings accessible to the public at any one time. This changes too, and I found that the House of the Vettii was out of bounds at the time of my visit. So I couldn’t get to see the famous fresco of Priapus, a fertility deity, that shows him weighing his outrageously large phallus on a fruit scale.
I was also disappointed that the Terme Suburbane next to the Porta Marina was not accessible either. In it are supposed to be some very explicit pornographic frescoes depicting all manner of practices including oral sex and same-sex scenes that must have shocked the archaeologists of the day when they discovered them. (Indeed a collection of some such images that were taken to the Archaeological Museum in Naples were for a long time kept locked out of view and could only be viewed by special permission, for which decent morals had to be assessed … these days it’s less restricted, at least for adult visitors.)
Incidentally, the paper map you can get at the information centre at the main entrance comes with a QR code that you can scan to get up-to-date info on what buildings are accessible at the time of your visit and which are not. That might be useful.
Back to my visit: from the entrance at Porta Marina I first headed towards the Forum, then headed north to the Macellum and then further up in search of plaster cast locations marked on my map – but to no avail. At one location that was under reconstruction I spotted an empty display cabinet that will have contained a plaster cast at some point that must have then gone into temporary storage somewhere.
Then heading east I did manage to track down a couple more plaster casts but somehow missed the “Garden of the Fugitives” that’s supposed to have a whole collection of them. But either it, too, was closed at the time or maybe I took a wrong turn or just failed to spot the entrance.
I did succeed in tracking down another group of plaster casts by the Porta Nocera, even though these were not marked on the paper map and were only accessible in a rather roundabout way. The site is beyond a stretch of old city walls, so first I had to descend the path down to the western end of the wall and then turned east towards the building with the plaster casts. But it’s not accessible from that side. Instead I had to retrace my steps to the western end of the wall again and follow a little path branching off that had a plain “entrance” sign on it (without any indication as to entrance to what) and this took me to the correct path and the plaster cast building. Here, casts of a small family, father, mother and child, lie on top of volcanic ash exactly where they had been discovered, as a small info panel explains. This also speculated that the family may have tried to flee Pompeii atop the volcanic ash from the first day of the eruption (see above) but were then caught out by a pyroclastic flow on the second day. Now they lie in the semi-open air, protected by a roof and a glass pane, but you can climb some stairs to get a view unobstructed by glass and the reflections on it.
To the east, still outside the old city walls, is the Necropoli di Porta Nocera, i.e. an ancient cemetery with some grand Roman tombs, giving further indications of how wealthy Pompeii was. This is one of four such burial sites, but the only one I managed to get to see. Two of the other, much smaller ones, lie on the far northern fringes of Pompeii, and the large Necropoli di Porta Ercolano lies beyond that gate, which is not included in the regular ticket (see below), so I could not go there.
From the city walls I headed further east past the secondary entrance at Piazza Anfiteatro, where there is supposed to be an exhibition of further plaster casts, but that seemed to be on the other side of the exit, and going through would have invalidated my ticket (see below). So I decided to stay inside the perimeter to see the rest of Pompeii instead.
The next structure was indeed worth it: the large Amphitheatre on the easternmost edge of Pompeii. It’s in astonishingly good shape, even though many tiers of seats are now missing. Standing in the middle of the arena was nevertheless quite cool (though not as impressive as the Colosseum in Rome). There was some exhibition inside the theatre beneath the seats, but I couldn’t find an open entrance. But peeking in I saw posters for the legendary concert that the prog rock band Pink Floyd played at this amphitheatre in the early 1970s.
Moving back westwards I came to the Palestra Grande. In its northern wing was supposed to be another exhibition of plaster casts. However, annoyingly, this was also closed for refurbishment. I could peek through a gap in the blocked corridor and vaguely spotted one plaster cast in a typical glass display cabinet, but I couldn’t get in.
I did get to see several smaller houses that were open, and spotted many elaborate frescoes, collections of amphorae, cooking utensils and so forth, but no more plaster casts – at least not until I came to the Antiquarium at the end of the circuit, beyond the Forum and just south of the main entrance. This is the museum of Pompeii and I knew that I would get to see some more plaster casts here. And indeed there were a couple more glass display cabinets with plaster casts. One is a typical cast of a human lying face down with hands in front of the face, but the other is quite remarkable: it’s a cast of a dog, complete with its collar, so clearly it was a Pompeii citizen’s pet or a guard dog. The dog lies in a grossly contorted position that seems to express what an agonizing death the poor creature must have died.
Furthermore, there is another set of plaster casts, again a small family, with a really small child, and astonishingly these are not behind glass (maybe they are only copies?). Anyway, they are also in unusual postures, the father looking like he is in mid-fall backwards.
The rest of the Antiquarium has plenty of archaeological finds from the Pompeii sites, ranging from more frescoes and mosaics, to statues, amphorae and cooking utensils, as well as coins and some jewellery.
But that concluded my visit to Pompeii.
All in all, I thought it was a very worthwhile visit, despite the disappointing fact that so many locations with plaster casts were not accessible to me at the time. But the rest of what was accessible was impressive enough, including the non-dark aspects, though I didn’t really focus so much on those. Still I got a pretty decent impression. And after all, this is one of those must-see sites in the world, not just from a dark-tourism perspective.
Would I go again? Possibly, and then better prepared (using the Piazza Anfiteatro entrance, for instance) and making a more concerted effort at tracking down those plaster casts I missed out on on this occasion … and maybe also adding on the Villa of the Mysteries (where there are said to be remains of still harnessed horses).
Location: in the Campania region of southern Italy, ca. 6 miles (10 km) south of the crater of Mt Vesuvius, and ca. 14 miles (23 km) south-east of Naples.
Google Maps locators:
Main entrance: [40.7483, 14.4820]
Macellum: [40.7501, 14.4849]
Garden of the Fugitives: [40.7494, 14.4929]
Porta Nocera plaster casts: [40.74935, 14.49353]
Exhibition at the Piazza Anfiteatro entrance: [40.7495, 14.4952]
Palestra Grande: [40.7511, 14.4930]
Antiquarium: [40.7483, 14.4834]
Access and costs: Fairly easy to reach (by train) from Naples; some restrictions apply; not cheap but not overpriced for what you get.
Details: Getting to Pompeii is quite easy when coming from Naples (or Salerno coming from the other direction) using regular regional trains, which are inexpensive (even free if you have a three-day Campania ArteCard – see under Naples).
Connections are normally half-hourly. It’s best to board the train at the terminus at Porta Nolana station, and NOT at the Central Station (Garibaldi); not only Pompeii tourists but also regular commuters use this line a lot so you may find all seats already taken if you get on at Centrale and you’d have to stand for the whole journey!
The journey time is about half an hour. You need to get off the train at the “Pompeii Scavi” stop. There are also faster Campania Express trains (but these are NOT included in the three-day Campania ArteCard!).
From the train station it’s just a short walk (less than 100 yards) to the main entrance to the Pompeii site. In addition to the ticket counters there are also toilets and free luggage storage facilities here.
Tickets are personalized, so you’ll need to show ID. The tickets then have to be scanned at the turnstiles at the actual access gate. You cannot leave and re-enter with the same ticket.
Admission: the regular ticket for the main Pompeii sites (called, a bit misleadingly, “Pompeii Express”) cost 20 EUR. If you have a Campania ArteCard and haven’t yet used it for other sites, you get free admission (actually a key reason for getting such a card), and if you’ve already used it for free admission at other sites, you’d at least get a reduction (by 50% I believe).
There are also other ticket types, such as the “Pompeii Plus” ticket for 25 EUR that includes admission to the Villa of the Mysteries and Villa Diomedes and the shuttle bus to them from the Porta Ercolano in the north-western corner of Pompeii. The “Pompeii Grande” for 30 EUR also includes admission (and shuttle bus) to yet more villas and other archaeological sites in the area. The Campania ArteCard does not include any of those extra sites, only the “Pompeii Express” sites.
Opening times: daily (except Christmas and New Year’s Day) from 9 a.m., last admission at 3:30 p.m. and closing at 5 p.m. in winter (mid-October to mid-March) and in summer last entry is at 5:30 p.m. and closing time is 7 p.m. – some of the buildings may have different opening times.
Visitor numbers are now capped at 20,000 per day maximum, staged at 15,000 between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., the rest in the afternoon. Given this as well as the sheer size of the site, it’s advisable to get there in the morning, ideally for just when the site opens.
There are also guided tours available locally or as packages with transfer from Naples, even with archaeologists as guides. But these will appeal more to those not just interested in the dark aspects but in the wider cultural context. As a kind of compromise you can also download audio guides to Pompeii, such as the one recommended to me that is available from this site (external link; opens in a new tab – scroll to the bottom of the page to find the relevant download button).
In theory you could also drive your own (rented) vehicle to Pompeii, but be aware that there’s little free parking and some of the commercial parking lots charge hefty fees, especially the large one near the main entrance apparently. There are alternative parking lots further east, including near the Amphitheatre. Some parking lots offer discounts if you book online.
Note that there are two alternative entrances too, one at Piazza Anfiteatro and one at Piazza Esedra.
When visiting in the heat of summer, make sure to have sunscreen, a sun hat and a bottle of drinking water on you. There are a few drinking water fountains within Pompeii where you could refill/top up. If planning on spending a long day at the site, maybe bring some snacks too. There is a food outlet roughly in the middle of Pompeii, but as you would expect at such a touristy site, prices are high and quality not.
Those who want to do Pompeii and adjacent sites exhaustively may need overnight accommodation – and there are several options in the area. I can’t vouch for it myself, but I’ve read recommendations of the Hotel Vittoria. But there are also cheaper B&B options.
Time required: For just seeing the plaster casts half a day would suffice, but most people will want to cover more ground (both literally and in the figurative sense) and take in at least a good part of the ancient ruins, the many frescoes and so on. Some six hours seems reasonable. If you also want to tag on the extra villas you’ll need all day.
Combinations with other dark destinations: Most obviously: Herculaneum, another ancient Roman city that was also destroyed in the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE. At this smaller site there are no plaster casts on display, but human remains that were found in a boat shelter. The site is on the same regional train line as Pompeii (the stop is Ercolano).
Many people also want to go up Vesuvius all the way to the crater rim, which is possible and there are shuttle buses from near the train station in Ercolano (Herculaneum in Italian) to the summit hike trailhead. There are also package tours starting from Naples. I would have considered something like this myself, but the weather had been really bad with lots of rain over several previous days so the ground would have been sodden. Moreover on the clear day that I picked to go to Pompeii it was so cold that the upper part of the main peak of Vesuvius was covered in snow. Not good hiking conditions, really, so I abandoned the idea.
Since many people visit Pompeii as a day excursion from Naples, see under that city’s chapter for more dark sites to combine Pompeii with.
Combinations with non-dark destinations: Pompeii is in itself only partially a dark site. All the archaeological finds and the frescoes etc. are of a more mainstream appeal.
The fabled Amalfi Coast between Sorrento and Salerno is not far from Pompeii, but for that you should ideally have your own (rental) vehicle.
Off the coast to the west lies another tourist magnet: the island of Capri with the famous Grotta Azzurra (‘blue cave’). The island can be reached by boat from Amalfi, Sorrento and Naples.
And of course, Naples, from where most visitors go to Pompeii from, is also full of tourist attractions.
