When Mount Vesuvius erupted almost 2,000 years ago, Pompeii was buried in ash. The city's fate attracts millions of visitors every year. In order to protect the world cultural heritage from the onslaught, the number of visitors is now limited.
The archaeological park of Pompeii wants to limit the number of visitors to 20,000 per day and introduce personalized entry tickets from next week. The aim is to combat so-called overtourism and protect the world cultural heritage, as the authorities announced. They were reacting to record visitor numbers in the summer, when more than four million people visited the world-famous archaeological site from 79 AD.
“We are working on a number of projects to reduce human pressure on the site, which could pose a risk both to visitors and to the unique and fragile heritage,” said the director of the excavations, Gabrielzuchtriegel. The number of visitors is currently on average 15,000 to 20,000 per day. The new upper limit should prevent a further increase.
Personalized Entrance tickets
Starting November 15th, park admission tickets will be personalized and stamped with visitors' names. There should be several time windows in the high season in summer. Park management is also trying to encourage more tourists to visit other ancient sites connected to Pompeii by a free shuttle bus, including Stabia, Torre Annunziata and Boscoreale. “We aim for slow, sustainable, pleasant and non-mass tourism, spread above all in the entire area surrounding the UNESCO site, which is full of cultural jewels to be discovered,” explainedzuchtriegel.
When the volcano Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, Pompeii and other cities south of Naples were completely destroyed within two days. Over the past 250 years, more than 1,300 bodies from that time have been discovered there.
