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Whole day in Pompei.
After the eruption of 79 A.D., that buried the entire city, about other seventy have followed, up to the last one of 1944. The look of the mountain changed during the big eruption; by the mountain Somma, breaking itself, born the mountain Vesuvius, that with the following eruptions triplicated the greatness of its crater.
For centuries nothing was known about Pompei, neither the location. For the first signs of the recoveries that would have came, we had to wait the 1628: during some works in the valley of Sarno emerged different ruins that roused scientists’ interest.
But only a century after began in Herculaneum, and about ten years later in Pompei, the regular excavations with the order of Charles III Borbone, king of the Two Sicilies.
The history of Pompei, one of the most famous Shrines of Christianity, is tied, in its origins and its development, to the life of its founder, the Blessed Bartolo Longo. There are few cases in history where a town owes its existence to one single man, rarer still a sanctuary town with such unique characteristics as Pompei.
This is not, therefore, a guide in the usual sense of the word but rather an introduction to the understanding of the "miracle of Pompei", of that exceptional "adventure of the Spirit". Very much in evidence, not only in Bartolo Longo’s private life but in his life as a founder as well, lies the power of the Spirit; that Spirit of which Jesus says: "The wind blows where it wishes and you can hear its voice, you do not know where it comes from and where it goes: this is so of anyone who is born of the Spirit". (Jn. 3,8).
Bartolo Longo was "guided by the Spirit" as much through the desert as the rich harvest, and through the dark of the night as in the radiant midday light. He was conscious of this adventure and he wanted to live it to the full. Before the consecration of the new church in 1891 he wrote: "For fifteen years we were continually astonished by the phenomenon that was occurring inside of us without clearly understanding its laws or the nature and force of its purpose. What was that secret impulse, persistent and untiring, that for so many years had driven us to build this church?".
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In order to be allowed into Basilica or Santuario you must have covered shoulders & long trousers.
*Please note the entrance fees and excursion prices are refered to 2007 year and they will change for 2008 year
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