Pompeii: Granai del Foro and the Restaurant Area

 On one side of the forum area in Pompeii is what is called the Granai del Foro, number 13 on this map. More research has shown that the Granai del Foro was the produce market in ancient Pompeii, in other words the Forum Granary. What you see in this picture is one of the numerous plaster casts made in the 19th century. Excavators walked around Pompeii with poles...when pushing the pole in the dirt, if they felt an empty void they filled it with plaster which yielded the plaster casts as you see here. In other words, this gentleman died from the Mt Vesuvius blast.

 The Forum Granary is now used to store artifacts found in Pompeii. The best preserved artifacts have long since been moved to museums (such as the one in Naples that we will visit soon), but many other artifacts still reside onsite in Pompeii.

 Hundreds of amphorae are still stored here.

 I'm still not certain why they didn't have flat bottoms...

 I have yet to find a description of this box, but am dying to know more about it.

 More amphorae with storage trays above.

 Tables, table tops and containers.

 Another of the plaster casts made during the 19th century.

 This photo gives you an idea of the extent of the storage.

 Another of the sleepy, lazy Pompeiian dogs. Nary a movement as us tourists shuffled past.

 This cast intrigues me. The person appears to have leaned against a wall or furniture and stayed there for their final moments. So sad.

 A couple of very nice wall decorations found in Pompeii, one with a griffon and a swan.

One of the saddest and most famous of the plaster casts...a dog who died chained to his property.

  On the far side are many of the wall ornaments found in Pompeii.

 There are even items stored between the storage buildings.

 Quite an appealing little sculpture...a little girl and her dog.

 At the edge of the Granai dei Foro is the modern restaurant for us tourists. It was quite busy when we were there. We didn't eat there but I don't recall why. Maybe we were still full from our large breakfast? We found that we usually did not eat lunch in Italy...too busy I guess. It was interesting to us how many of the young tourists were traveling with no luggage except the backpack on their back. We spoke with an early-20s couple on the train doing just that...everything they needed in the backback on their lap. I mention that at this point in time because that makes what I saw in the alley behind the restaurant even more sad...a Glad bag filled with all of someone's toiletries (toothbrush, paste, soap, etc). Someone was going to be bummed out that night...

And now, let's continue walking past the restaurant and on to our next Pompeii home...