Ancient Pompeii Ruins Hit Google Street View (PHOTOS)

Google Street View, a feature of Google Maps that allows users to zoom into a location and peruse it in a 3D environment, has already mapped over 100 cities around the world with street-level shots taken with with a car-mounted camera.

Now, it's hit Pompeii.

As part of its effort to move beyond roads, and map, in 3D, amusement parks, college campuses, and hiking trails, Google Street View has just added incredible, interactive panoramas of the ancient ruins of Pompeii.

Thanks to the new images, now you can virtually explore the UNESCO world heritage site in Naples, Italy, with 360 degree horizontal views, and 290 vertical views. (see screenshot below)

Meander through the ancient columns, inspect the worn rock, and clamber around the historic site on Google here.

If that doesn't give you your fix of historic sightseeing, check out Google Street View's interactive view of Stonhenge, or for something totally different, see the Street View shots of Shamu, leaping dolphins, and more from SeaWorld.

Learn more about Street View from Google here, and get the full story about the Google Trike used to snap photos of off-road spots here.

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Comments

[Nim]

11:06 PM on 12/06/2009

I was there in September. As good as Street View is, it is better with an informed guide who can describe what you see. It is worth a tour (which you can book from Rome)

[ETSpoon]

09:28 AM on 12/06/2009

Very cool.

[Jimboy17]

11:57 PM on 12/05/2009

May I say, brilliant!

[ranchero42]

02:33 PM on 12/05/2009

Sweet! What next? Nan Madol?

[Blackbuddah]

02:31 PM on 12/05/2009

Look up camden new jersey all you see are aerial views. Damn my city snubbed again.

[BlueKansas]

05:37 PM on 12/04/2009

Wow, could they have taken any more shots of Stonehenge???? There's a photo every couple of feet, from every conceivable angle! If you're interested in Stonehenge, you might as well see it on Google Street View, because the real thing is kind of a letdown. It's practically on the motorway, and there are lots of souvenir places around. They also don't let you get very close to the stones.

[rubinoff]

05:41 PM on 12/04/2009

...then, where is obl???

[LeftLeanWing]

03:37 AM on 12/06/2009

Obl is in hiding at the 'Small World' exhibit at DisneyLand

[TFDNYC]

05:16 PM on 12/05/2009

as I recall there was only 1 souvenir seller and it was a small, unobtrusive visitor center. Plus, yes, there is a road but it's still in the middle of nowhere.

Did we go to the same Stoenhenge? I went to the one in England.

[LeftLeanWing]

03:38 AM on 12/06/2009

He must have gone to the one in Mississippi.

[BlueKansas]

05:32 PM on 12/04/2009

I love Google Earth and street view. I was stunned to see my parents old house in very rural upper Michigan had street view photos, while my house in Suburban KC does not. The pics of my parents old place, which we sold a few years ago, has been updated with junked cars in the yard, garbage everywhere...typical U.P. yard art.

[live]

07:42 PM on 12/04/2009

i was shocked to see that my childhood home at tahoe destroyed by the fires of a couple of years ago. you cant go home again

[Rudderman]

05:20 PM on 12/04/2009

I became a serious fan of Google Earth last year during the Volvo Ocean Race. Google's coverage was amazing as they followed the course of each one of these incredible sailboats racing day and night all the way around the world. The latest addition of Pompeii is another example of the grand educational possibilities of modern technology. Good on ya, Google, keep it up.

[Kristen777]

04:32 PM on 12/04/2009

Woooooowwwwww!!!!. Sadly, didn't make it to Pompeii on my trip to Italy a few years ago. It really stirs the imagination and emotion. Truly awesome!

Thanks, Google Earth!

[Mapper99]

04:12 PM on 12/04/2009

This is great! Will be wonderful for school classes...except, Google may want to remove images like these: http://streetviewgallery.corank.com

[GringoLingo]

04:18 PM on 12/04/2009

Like this half moon they caught i daylight?

http://streetviewgallery.corank.com/tech/framed/full-Moon-in-Canada

[alguien]

04:09 PM on 12/04/2009

i was looking for all the dogs that hang out there but the camera doesn't go in quite close enough.

[18]

04:04 PM on 12/04/2009

Next step: Holographic images - can anyone say Holodeck?

[Tulka2]

04:33 PM on 12/04/2009

(I too wait for a tread mill Holodeck!)

[GringoLingo]

04:02 PM on 12/04/2009

Darn, you can't go into where the bodies are stored.

[Tommygun264]

06:09 AM on 12/06/2009

When I visited Pompeii two years ago, they only had two bodies (plaster casts with the bones, skull and teeth showing through) on display in the premises, both in glass cases. Most of the remains are in a museum off site, with others part of a traveling exhibit. However, it was amazing to see urns and other items unearthed stored in an open-air section of the ruins, arranged carefully, but stacked and stored closely, just like in a department store warehouse, with modern reproductions of roman-style iron gates blocking off the openings in the sides of the building.

Pompeii is a must see right up there with the city of Rome, especially if you are traveling there as part of a rare or once-in-a-lifetime vacation. Just be sure to bring plenty of water. All that remains are the ancient stones and the ground in most of the areas open to the public is rocky, compacted ash - there is not a lot of green space - so the heat not only bears down from above, but radiates upward from the ground. When I was there they were charging three Euros (about $4.50) for small bottles of water and Gatorade and you need at least two bottles to make it through the average tour.

[GringoLingo]

04:00 PM on 12/04/2009

This is very very cool. I just visited there over the past summer and didn't get to see everything.

[Jackalheadedgod]

03:46 PM on 12/04/2009

Wow. I love Google Earth. It just keeps getting better. And, Google SketchUp rocks.

Cheers,
Jack