With today’s page we come to the end of Claudia’s letter, and almost to the end of episode 7. I want to say a huge gratias tibi ago to the Nicholson Museum for allowing Claudia’s visit, and of course to all of you who read and shared and liked this month’s posts. As of this moment, the Squarespace stat-bar tells me that the story itself has been read 1,896 times. euge! The most popular post this month was Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii, which has been read 219 times. My favourites were urbanitas – you either have it or you don’t, Estelle Lazer and the Bathhouse of Horror and How Claudia met Mary Beard : The Untold Story. I also thank Caroline Brehaut for her excellent posts on Water and Pompeii. It was the perfect start to what I hope will be a long tradition of Legonium Guest Posters. Please, get in touch, if you or a student would like to contribute something (visitLegonium@gmail.com). And finally, thank you to Mary Beard and Estelle Lazer, for agreeing to be a part of Claudia’s journey. See you all soon, back in Legonium!
The sun was now setting and it was time to depart. I am so happy because I visited Pompeii. It was an excellent opportunity.
The Lego model of Pompeii is housed in the Nicholson Museum of The University of Sydney, Australia. Entry to the museum is entirely free, and you may visit Monday to Friday between 10:00 and 4:30. The Nicholson is Australia’s oldest University museum and contains the largest collection of antiquities in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Pompeii model was commissioned by the Nicholson and constructed by LEGO Professional Builder Ryan McNaught. It is the third such model the museum has exhibited, following the Colosseum and Acropolis. The Colosseum was returned to McNaught and recently exhibited around Australia. The Acropolis was denoted by the Nicholson to the Acropolis Museum in Athens. The Pompeii model is estimated to include 190 000 bricks and took 420 hours to complete.