Siragusa Tours

Description

This tour will explore the majestic ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii and the surrounding area, buried under volcanic ash and pumice following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. This tragic event for the people who lived and worked in Pompeii was recorded in the works of Pliny the Younger, but Pompeii itself was subsequently lost for centuries. Rediscovered and continuously excavated since 1592, Pompeii is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Pompeii has provided an extraordinary wealth of evidence for the ancient world, offering remarkably personal details of the lives of the Pompeiians and, more broadly, the Romans. Walking through its streets, houses, shops, workshops and public buildings provides an opportunity to encounter the Roman world at close quarters. Pompeii features prominently in publications on the Roman Empire, so much of what we encounter will feel familiar, but seeing the evidence for yourself offers a very different experience.

Pompeii is relatively small in terms of its urban area, but the sheer profusion of surviving evidence means that there is a great deal to discover. The tour will therefore take a thematic approach to the ruins and will involve a considerable amount of walking. We will explore the political heart of Pompeii, including the forum, religious structures, entertainment buildings and baths, as well as the private dwellings of the well-to-do and the shops and workshops of the non-elite. We will also consider burial and reputation. And, of course, no trip to Pompeii would be complete without a visit to the so-called Lupanare, reputedly the only preserved purpose-built brothel from the Ancient World. Two days is never enough!

Herculaneum offers a fascinating contrast to Pompeii. Pompeii is extraordinary for the extent of its surviving urban remains; Herculaneum is exceptional for the preservation of wood and other organic materials, including roofs, doors, beds and even food. We will spend a day exploring this remarkable site, also preserved by the tragedy of AD 79.

Pompeii and Herculaneum were urban sites, but both were intimately connected to the surrounding rural landscape. We will explore the Villa of the Mysteries, just outside the Herculaneum Gate of Pompeii, before spending a morning examining two contrasting villas: the luxurious Villa Poppaea at Oplontis, a villa maritima, and the Villa Regina, a villa rustica, together with its museum. The afternoon will be free for you to explore the modern town of Pompei. As well as its local shops, you might consider visiting the beautiful late-nineteenth-century Pontifical Shrine of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary of Pompei, with its vaulted ceilings covered with opulent artwork.

We will end the tour at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, which houses many of the artefacts recovered from Pompeii and Herculaneum. The museum also contains fine examples of Roman sculpture and Roman copies of Greek originals, as well as the Gabinetto Segreto (Secret Cabinet), the Bourbon monarchy’s collection of erotic art taken from the excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

 

 Other Details

 Accommodation

Centrally located Hotel Forum**** in Pompeii.

An elegant 4 star hotel just across the road from the entrance into the archaeological site of Pompeii and close to the town centre of Pompei with its attractive squares and cathedral.

 

Course Cost

£925, including tuition, airport transfers (only available for the Siragusa Tours nominated flight), visits to Herculaneum, villas Poppaea and Regina, and Naples, and a half-board tariff (4 dinners only, days 2, 3, 4 & 5) in a twin-share room with private facilities. Flights and entrance fees are excluded.

 

Single Room Supplement

£245

 

Flight and entrance fees

Once the tour is viable, we will contact you with details of the ‘nominated flight’ and entrance fees for the sites we shall be visiting. The tutor and/or LRAC assistant will be booked on this flight. You should then make your own flight arrangements.

 

Travel Insurance

Once the tour is viable and flights are booked, please make sure to book travel insurance as well.

 

Local Transport

Airport transfers (if booked on the nominated flight) and visits to Naples by minibus. Transfer to Herculaneum and the villas Poppaea and Regina by minibus.

 

Tutor

Dr Ardle Mac Mahon is a long-standing Associate Lecturer in Classical Studies with the Open University. He holds a primary degree and a research master’s degree in Greek and Roman Civilisation from University College Dublin and a PhD in Roman Archaeology from the University of Durham. His doctoral research examined the retail establishments (tabernae) of Roman Britain, and his subsequent research has focused on shops and workshops across the Roman Empire, with a particular interest in Pompeii, Herculaneum and Ostia. More broadly, his research and teaching interests centre on the social history of the non-elite and the everyday experience of life in the Roman world.

 

Ardle has taught across the Open University’s Classical Studies curriculum at both undergraduate and postgraduate level and currently teaches A111: Discovering the Arts and Humanities, A229: Exploring the Classical World and A340: The Roman Empire. He has also taught Roman Archaeology in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Nottingham and lectured in the Department of Classics at Royal Holloway, University of London.

 

His research and teaching interests centre on the social history of the non-elite and the everyday experience of life in the Roman world, interests which inform his approach to exploring the archaeological remains of Pompeii and the people who lived and worked there.

 

Related OU Courses

A229 – Exploring the Classical World; A340 – The Roman Empire; A350 – Greek and Roman Myth: stories and histories; A868 – MA Classical Studies: Part 1, A869 – MA Classical Studies: Part 2 &

General Interest

 

Group Size

20

 

Itinerary / Study Programme

Note:  Although accessibility at the sites has improved, it remains limited, and the tour includes many well-known sites where access can still be challenging. Good mobility and stability are essential!

 

Day 1, Thursday 4 November 2027

Arrival in Naples and transfer to Hotel Forum **** in Pompei (dinner not included as we will be arriving late in the evening)

 

Day 2, Friday, 5 November 2027

Pompeii

AM Amphitheatre/Theatre

PM Forum

 

Day 3, Saturday 6 November 2027

Pompeii

AM  Temples and Religion

PM  Houses of the elite, shops, workshops, ‘lupanare’ and life in Pompeii, tombs & Villa of the Mysteries

 

Day 4, Sunday 7 November 2027

Herculaneum

AM & PM  Herculaneum site

 

Day 5, Monday 8 November 2027

Boscoreale

AM villas Poppaea and Regina and its museum

PM Free time in modern Pompei

 

Day 6, Tuesday 9 November 2027

Naples

AM & PM Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli until it is time to drive to the airport.

 

 

This itinerary and study programme are provisional and may be subject to change in response to local conditions and unscheduled flight changes.