Skip to main content

Day seven - Herculaneum

Wandering around Herculaneum was an eye-opening experience, particularly building upon our trip to Pompeii yesterday.


The difference between the two sites is significant: Pompeii was larger but less well preserved. In Herculaneum, there are roofs, stairs and ceilings that contribute to provide more of an insight into the terrible tragedy of the 79AD eruption of Vesuvius. 

Standing in a room brings home the concept of people’s everyday lives that were torn apart in just a few hours.

Only a small proportion of the old Roman town has been excavated, with the remainder under the modern streets. A tantalising set of tunnels and stone arched entrances hint at the streets and houses still buried. Apparently, early digging elsewhere close to modern buildings revealed an amphitheatre that may never be fully visible.



An especially poignant element of the excavation reveals the skeletons of people caught on the edge of the harbour, taking shelter in buildings that have become their tombs. They were carrying coins, jewellery and precious items, many of which are now in the fantastic museum on he site.

The boat that might have carried those people to safety was itself encased in the mud that slid down the mountain and you can see it as it is being renovated in a separate building. It was so close to saving lives.

Although smaller than Pompeii, Herculaneum is a more interesting site, exposing the reality of the tragedy.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Maria Schneider: Live at The Barbican

Tonight’s performance in the main hall at London’s Barbican Centre confirmed Maria Schneider ’s position as one of the finest composers of our generation. Working with the sublime Oslo Jazz Ensemble (formerly Denada), Schneider presented a selection of tunes from her ‘Data Lords’ double album from 2020 and the result was simply extraordinary. Photo credit @Hilary Seabrook With a host of Grammy awards and a Pulitzer Prize nomination for Data Lords , Schneider has proved her right to stand on the Barbican stage in front of one of the finest ensembles in the world. Her music allows every member to shine, individually and collectively. Sax players who double on clarinet, bass clarinet, flute and alto flute, trumpets and flugelhorns, an accordion and multiple percussion pieces wielded by the drummer collectively provide a range of timbres, textures and dynamics that thrilled this audience. The Data Lords  compositions celebrate everything that is wonderful about nature, as well as all ...

Big Wade - 'Piano Man' out now

Big Wade and Black Swan Theory collectively blends funk, soul, jazz and everything that fills the cracks between those genres: his new album -  Piano Man - on all major streaming platforms ahead of the Piano Man Tour 2024 , which has dates across the US. Piano Man  brings a selection of original and covers, including a stunning version of Autumn Leaves , which reinvents the song as the funky, electronic Autumn . Big Wade's voice takes the song's melody and improvises around and around, with backing vocals and a deliberately sparse arrangement underpinning the song. Similarly, on Children of the Ghetto , the lead and backing vocals blend in with the soulful musicians of Black Swan Theory. Electronics are used with dexterity, often expanding the vocal lines, as in the ethereal and ghostly opening of Don't Let Me Go . However, the tools never dominate - simply adding depth and layers to the funk. Never more than when Big Wade enters a new world in Interludes , including vocals...

The Darius Brubeck Quartet: Live at Jazz Cafe Posk

My first visit to Jazz Cafe Posk in London's Hammersmith coincided with the 60th anniversary of Posk - The Polish Social and Cultural Association - and the first performance in the club by pianist and composer Darius Brubeck. Photo credit @ Hilary Seabrook Darius was 10 when he joined his father on a historic tour of Poland. The Dave Brubeck Quartet toured Poland from 6 to 18 March 1958, just three years after the communist regime's ban on jazz was lifted. Without a doubt, this was the biggest jazz event in post-war Poland, with the archetypal and hugely successful outfit of Dave Brubeck (piano), Paul Desmond (alto sax), Eugene Wright (bass) and Joe Morello (drums). Sixty years later, in  2018, Darius took his own quartet - the same one he brought to Posk in May 2024 - to Poland for a significant tour, recorded and released as the Live in Poland album. Several of the tracks from this album were in the set at Posk and this quartet displayed in depth the benefits of playing to...