Pompeii ruin collapses amid claims site mismanaged (House of the Gladiators)

Telegraph ^ | November 7, 2010 | Nick Pisa

[NYer]

The stone house, known as Schola Armaturarum Juventus Pompeiani, crumbled into a pile of rubble and dust in the early hours of Saturday morning before visitors were allowed in.

Although the house is closed to the public, it was a popular site in the city – buried by an eruption from nearby Mt Vesuvius in AD79 – because of its beautiful gladiator frescoes painted on the outside walls.

Pompeii, south of Naples is a unique historical site and is on the UNESCO World Heritage list but for decades it has been allowed to fall into ruin and disrepair.

Today more than 250 years after it was discovered, 40% of the city – which if fully excavated would give a unique insight into ancient Roman life – is closed or yet to be examined.

Italy's president Giorgio Napolitano called the collapse "a shame" and it came after an expose last month by newspaper Corriere della Sera that said Pompeii was an international embarrassment because of the mismanagement.

Officials at the site have blamed the collapse on a lack of funds but the Culture Minister Sandro Bondi insisted after visiting Pompeii on Sunday that funds were adequate and management were to blame.

Minister Bondi added that if there was any evidence that he "was responsible" then he would resign saying: "I stand by the work that has been done here."

He said the probable cause was rain water that had infiltrated the House of the Gladiators when it was restored with cement at the end of the Second World War after suffering bomb damage.

Officials said they were "hopeful" that the frescoes could be saved

[NYer]

[NYer]

Workers stand among debris in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010. Officials say that a house in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii once used by gladiators to train before combat has collapsed. The site was closed at the time and nobody was injured. The office of Pompeii's archaeological superintendent said the collapse occurred Saturday at around 6 a.m. (0500 GMT). Attendants opening the site saw the collapse about an hour later. The 430-square-foot (40-square-meter) space was used by gladiators to train before going to fight in a nearby amphitheater. Pompeii was destroyed in A.D. 79 by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius that killed thousands of people and buried the city in 20 feet (six meters) of volcanic ash

[agere_contra]

I stand by the work that has been done here.

Bet he's glad he wasn't standing next to it.

[ClearCase_guy]

“I remember when people used to build things to last. Nowadays, houses fall over because a little rainwater gets in.” [/grumpy old man]

[1_Rain_Drop]

did global warming cause this?

[Carley]

Actually, it was Bush’s fault.

[my job]

WOW, too many thoughts:
1. already an excuse “rain water”
2. if they are to restore it, why are they walking on it - further grinding off the fragments of the surface frescoes
3. I sure am glad that UNESCO has this under control
3a. doesn’t UNxxx have some jurisdiction over the Grand Canyon?
4. entropy happens
5. who cares

[dis.kevin]

I wonder if the building being almost 2,000 yrs. old and once being covered in 20 feet of volcanic ash had anything to do with it?

I visited Pompeii about 20 years ago. Very interesting place to visit.

[SunkenCiv]

· GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach · · join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·
	Antiquity Journal  & archive  Archaeologica  Archaeology  Archaeology Channel  BAR  Bronze Age Forum  Discover  Dogpile  Eurekalert  Google  LiveScience  Mirabilis.ca  Nat Geographic  PhysOrg  Science Daily  Science News  Texas AM  Yahoo  Excerpt, or Link only?	Thanks NYer! BTW, I am *not* Spartacus, so I am *not* cleaning this up. Pompeii's House of Gladiators collapses Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
· History topic · history keyword · archaeology keyword · paleontology keyword · · Science topic · science keyword · Books/Literature topic · pages keyword ·

[SunkenCiv]

Minister Bondi: "I stand by the work that has been done here."

then, a melon-sized rock from a crumbling wall bounced off his head, and knocked him cold. ;')