The archaeological site of Pompeii, one of Italys major tourist attractions with an average of 15,000 visitors per day, is to be protected by 400 closed circuit cameras to prevent theft and vandalism.
A total 434 new video cameras are to be installed along the perimeter of the site and in the most important internal areas, as well as in the storage areas, the scientific laboratories, the offices, parking sites and entrances. 130 of these will substitute existing cameras no longer in good working order.
Latterly, the ancient Roman city swallowed in the eruption of the volcano Vesuvius in 79 AD, has had a bad press, due to the deterioration of many monuments, inadequate surveillance and security. The project is co-funded by the European Union.
Meanwhile, a new point of great interest has been reopened. The so-called Garden of the Fugitives, a vineyard to the south west of the city, where 13 unfortunate people, adults and children, met their death under the rain of cinders as they tried to escape the catastrophe, was reopened on the 7 November 2012 after extensive restoration work. During the early excavations, when the remains were found, plaster casts were made of the cavities left by the long-dissolved bodies, giving a clear and horrifying picture of the agony suffered. For many years, the casts lay largely unprotected in an open storeroom. They have now been set, in a more dignified and respectful manner, in a new exhibition area.
