Submitted by Dylan Dombroski on the 2020 winter session study abroad program in Italy sponsored by the Department of Philosophy and the Honors Program…
For the past week, our 2020 honors abroad group has stayed in Sorrento, a quiet summer town on the beautiful coastline of southern Italy. Of course, we haven’t stayed here the whole time: we first visited the lost ancient city of Pompeii, one of the most amazingly preserved pieces of archaeological history I have ever seen. Walking through the streets of this 2,000-year-old town truly transports you back in time, a tribute to the preserving powers of the miles of ash which covered the city following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. This ash not only preserved the beauty of these ancient structures, but also the culinary prestige of this region, as we quickly discovered. The volcanic materials which were distributed over the fields during the destructive explosion gave life to rich soil and the ability to harvest crops five times a year. So much was deposited, in fact, that the ash cloud reached 27 miles high into the stratosphere, decreasing the size of the volcano by one half! This statistic became even more shocking after we were able to trek up this live beast to see the steam which constantly rises from its crater, overlooking millions of Italians living just miles away.
Amazingly enough, this wasn’t even the best view of the week; the honor of that superlative goes to the appropriately named “path of the gods” along the hills just south of Sorrento. As we made our way through the cliff sides overlooking quaint Italian farms and towns, the sun slowly set over the still Mediterranean as far back as the eye could possibly see. No amount of words or pictures could ever fully capture the visceral experience of such a view, nor the toll taken on your knees after 1,700 steps at the end of the trail to get to the bus stop.
The beauty of this modern work of natural art shows a contrast to the priceless ancient history we have been surrounded by in cities like Rome and Pompeii. Of course, humans have always tried to capture this beauty and put it on display, as far back as the very first museum in Naples which we were also able to visit. Contained within this museum were the grandest sculptures I have ever seen. These perfectly crafted pieces of marble were made even more significant when we were told they were recovered from buried cities like Pompeii. It makes you question just how many wonderful pieces of art will never been seen again, but it also makes you appreciate the ones that you are lucky enough to actually experience.
