Pompei (Italy) (AFP)

Roman baths designed to be the jewel of Pompeii but destroyed by the volcanic eruption of the year 79 were opened on Monday to the public, who was also able to discover the moving story of a small skeleton ...

Pillars and marble blocks are found where they were left when the ancient city was submerged by the pyroclastic flows of Vesuvius during the disaster.

The same is true of the skeleton of a child who had sought refuge there in vain and was released from oblivion by the last excavation campaign.

The architects of the time "were inspired by the baths of Emperor Nero in Rome, the rooms were to be bigger and lighter, with marble basins", told AFP the director of the archaeological site of Pompeii, Massimo Osanna.

"These were emotionally charged digs," said Alberta Martellone, the archaeologist who led an anthropologist, geologist and vulcanologist in the study of the skeleton of the child, who died between eight and ten years .

"He or she was looking for shelter and instead died," she says.

- "interrupted life" -

These excavations have also been "moving from an architectural point of view, because it is unusual to find such a large building, with such large rooms, in this city so densely built", explains the archaeologist.

The construction site with its little skeleton is "the symbol of a life interrupted".

Originally, the city's public baths were smaller, darker and often overcrowded. The new complex would have provided a more luxurious setting for those who could afford it, most citizens, but not slaves.

Recent excavations in Pompeii have resulted in several important discoveries, including an inscription discovered last year that proves that the city was destroyed after October 17, 79 and not August 24 as previously thought.

A few weeks ago, archaeologists discovered a fresco depicting a gladiator in armor standing victorious while the body of his opponent floored gushing blood.

The fresco is in what was, 20 centuries ago, a tavern that was to host fighters and prostitutes.

In addition to the baths, the public can from Monday visit a small domus (dwelling) with a fresco representing the union of the god Jupiter transformed into a swan and Leda, the wife of the wife of Tyndare king of Sparta.

On the other side of Vesuvius Street, the surprising House of Gold Cupidons has reopened after work on its mosaic floors.

- The climate challenge -

While treasure hunters have looted Pompeii throughout the centuries in search of jewelery or precious objects, entire areas of the site remain unexplored today.

Each discovery helps historians to understand not only what life was like in the ancient city, but also what happened in its last tragic hours, when the sky took on fire and ashes, explained Massimo Osanna.

The Grand Pompeii project, funded in part by the EU, will be completed by the end of the year, but the Italian government has allocated 32 million euros for further excavations.

The severe weather events caused by climate change "are our biggest challenge," said Osanna, whose new book "Pompeii, il tempo ritrovato" (Pompeii the time found, Rizzoli) describes the race to preserve this vulnerable site inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List.

"We have 50 people - restorers, archaeologists, architects, engineers - on site permanently, who carry out inspections and intervene if necessary, and this number will increase to 70 next year," he said.

The city of ruins, near Naples, is the second most visited tourist site in Italy, behind the Colosseum of Rome, with just under four million visitors in 2019.

© 2019 AFP