QTVR-Panoramas

Clicking the images brings up the corresponding panorama (plug-in needed). Click and drag to look all around you! Zoom in (shift-key) and out (ctrl-key).

Panorama taken from south rim. On the outside of the crater the view is towards Torre Anunziata, Pompeji and Sorrento.

Panorama taken from west rim. Note fumarole on inner crater wall. Panorama assembled from hand held images taken with a digital camera.

View from the path to Gran Cratere towards the inner wall of Monte Somma. In front of it the lava flow from 1944 is clearly seen due to its bright gray shade caused by the growth of lichen. Panorama assembled from hand held images taken with a digital camera.

Vesuvius can be glimpsed through an arch-like opening in a base for a monument. The base is made from brick which was originally covered by plaster. Large columns are part of a Porticus. When Pompeji was buried in 79 AD the Forum had already been badly damaged by the great earthquake of 63 AD.

From the edge of Teatro Piccolo (small theater). It was probably not used for theater performances. Instead small concerts took place here. Outside the Palestra surrounds the prominent green lawn. The Teatro Grande (great theater) is behind the reddish brick wall and in front of the cypress trees. Note Vesuvius in the background.

This amphitheater, the oldest remaining one from the Roman Empire, was built briefly after 80 BC. An existing town wall was integrated in the construction. It would seat about 7000 spectators. Not all seats were made from stone. Green areas are not necessarily gaps caused by the removal of stones. Outside the amphitheater, behind the pines, is a Palestra with swimming pool.

Previously thought to be a temple of Serapis, now known to have been a meat market. Note how the big columns are darkened up to a level of more than 5 metres above their base: Here marine muscles (Lithophaga lithophaga) bored holes into the marble during periods of submersion in sea water. Due to magmatic movement beneath this area the Macellum was lowered about 12 metres after its construction in the 2nd century BC and became flooded by sea water. Later on uplifting raised it well above sea level again.

This partial panorama (and the one of the Macellum on the left) were taken using a handheld digital camera. Therefore the vertical coverage is much smaller than in other panoramas presented on this page.