Pompeii at Birmingham
Have you heard about Pompei? Yes, that city in the Province of Naples in Campania in Southern Italy. Since it was founded in 1891, Pompei has progressed into a city with roads, railways, establishments and lifestyle almost similar to other modern cities. While it has recently become a site for Catholic pilgrimages, do you know that there is another thing it is famous of?
The modern Pompei is famous for Pompeii, the ancient city that was completely buried under meters of ash and pumice when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. With that catastrophe, the city vanished into existence and was eventually forgotten until the first part of it was unearthed in 1599. In addition to inscriptions referring to the ancient Roman city, paintings and frescoes, usually with sexual content, were unearthed too. But since such subject was considered offensive during those period, the discoveries were completely covered again for censorship.
It was only in the middle part of 17th century when intentional excavation was started and was finally re-opened in 2000 after it was closed, re-opened and closed again for many years.
The magnificence of various arts and artifacts of this ancient city is now exhibited at the Birmingham Museum of Art in Alabama. Founded in 1951, the museum houses more than 24, 000 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings and decorative arts from cultures such as Asia, European, American, African, Pre-Columbian and Native American.
Pompeii at Birmingham gives the people of Birmingham and neighboring cities the opportunity to witness, if not experience, the life in the ancient world especially during the last few days before the tragic event occurred not just in Pompeii but also the nearby cities of Herculaneum, Oplontis and Terzigno. Included in the exhibit are not only arts and artifacts but also plaster casts of victims with the expression of terror while fighting for their lives. Some are even holding jewelries, coins and the tools of their trade, simple indication that they tried to escape taking their most prized possessions with them but miserably failed.
Once horrible and life-changing, the catastrophe resulted to one of the most beautiful, fascinating and extraordinary tourist attractions now considered as UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Apart from the exhibit at Birmingham, the place itself is now becoming more popular among travel enthusiasts and history lovers. There are around 2,500,000 visitors every year thereby boosting the economy of Pompeii. Many locals are employed in hotels and restaurants, working as taxi or bus drivers and some put up business such as souvenir shops and travel firms. And to parties who consider franchising a business, they should remember to have franchise agreement not just to establish rapport within the parties involved but also to protect the quality of the business. Additionally, to those who consider joining a company or creating one, they should know that shareholder agreement should be enforced.