Gladiator house, Pompeii collapses
 

Apparently the building was found to have collapsed when staff arrived this morning:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_italy_pompeii

Bad news. Apparently a combination of very heavy rains which weakened the foundations near the Domus (House) as well as mistaken restoration in the 1950's/1960's when they used reinforced concrete in the roof. This excess weight has been substantially to blame for the collapse. The worry is that there are many other buildings which have been restored in the same way and thus also at risk.

If I've got this right, it's possible to see what the building looked like - by starting here and clicking on the 3 on the map....

http://pompeiiinpictures.com/pompeii.../plan_5_05.htm

No idea though how much has been lost?

Peter

Images here - http://www.corriere.it/gallery/crona...02aabc.shtml#1

"Mistaken restoration" I can only imagine who was controlling the restoration job, sigh.