[Image: Pompeii Forum, 2003; & Artwork: designslinger]

On July 2, 2008, the Italian Parliament issued a state of emergency for Pompeii, that will last one
year. The UNESCO World Heritage site has been overrun with tourists, suffered from poor management, lack of funds, and looting. Then there are all the illegal vendors bombarding tourists as they approach the entrance to the site.

[Image: Pompeii brochure, 2003; & Artwork: designslinger]

We visited Pompeii in April, 2003, and were among the throngs of visitors tramping around on
pathways and over stone roadbeds, taking in the wonders the ancient town. It's a hard call when you are trying to figure out how to deal with the millions of people who stomp through, year after year, as they have for the past 260 years. The volume of destruction, just from those hundreds of millions of human feet pounding the pavement is enough to make you want to close the thing up tight. But, I have to say, the experience of walking around the most preserved, intact ancient Roman city was exhilarating.

[Image: Pompeii Forum, 2003; & Artwork: designslinger]

What I find absolutely perplexing, are the way people behave in such places, as well as the lack of
funding and oversight on behalf of the cultural and governmental institutions in charge of this jewel in Italy's crown. Visitors actually chip off pieces of fresco, or pick up stones laying amongst the ruins to take home as souvenirs. The sense of entitlement is shocking and despicable. And, the tourist aren't the only offenders. The Italian daily Corriere della Sera, quoted Antonio Irlando, regional councilor responsible for artistic heritage,
   
                                            "Every year 150 square meters of fresco and plaster
                                             work are lost for lack of maintenance."

I realize that all governments are strapped for cash, but they seem to do okay in France and England preserving important historic sites. What is up with these Italians? I guess all we have to do is look at the mess (literally) in neighboring Naples, with their trash problems, and the issues at Pompeii seem to be a systemic Italian enigma.

[Image: Pompeii street, 2003; & Artwork: designslinger

So, do you close down the place entirely, or limit admission to only a certain number of visitors per
day? There is an old saying that a few bad apples can spoil the bunch. But, should all those chiselers taking pieces of fresco ruin it for the rest of us? 8.3 million people visited the Louvre in 2007, along with 4.8 million at the British Museum and 4.5 million at the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Pompeii had 2.3 million people traipsing through. Perhaps it is unfair to compare museums with archaeological sites, but they all exist to present and preserve great art for public view and participation.

[Image: Pompeii, 2003; & Artwork: designslinger]

I'm just thinking out loud here, but why isn't Pompeii operated more like a museum? It is a living
museum after all. First and foremost - where is the security?? Have you ever visited any of the places I mentioned above and not seen a security guard lurking around every corner? That might stop people from stealing pieces of plaster from a 2000 year old wall if they were being watched by someone. And, of course, there is the monetary commitment. It takes vast sums of Euros to properly care for a world treasure as unique as this one. Then, there is the management issue, all the money in the world won't help without responsible oversight. It will take a long term obligation on the part of many individuals, institutions, to insure that we have a Pompeii to visit 1000 years from now.