Status: 15.01.2024, 13:26 PM
By: Martina Lippl
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Pompeii in Italy was destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 79 AD. © Elisabeth Knöbl-Zahn/imago
A visit to Pompeii has brought bad luck to a holidaymaker. She thinks stolen stones are cursed. Now she makes a confession.
Pompeii – It is a letter in English handwriting. An anonymous author sent the document to the excavation site in Pompeii (Italy). The contents: three pumice stones. The young tourist took these artefacts from Pompeii with her. Now she is seriously ill and regrets what she did.
Cursed after visiting Pompeii? Holidaymaker writes desperate letter
"I didn't know about the curse. I didn't know that I shouldn't have taken any stones with me. Within a year, I got breast cancer. I'm a young and healthy woman, and the doctors say it's just 'bad luck'. Please accept my apologies and these pieces," the woman wrote. And: "I'm sorry."
A photo of the note, including the stones, was published by the director of the archaeological park of Pompeii, Gabriel Zuchtriegel, on platform X.
"Dear anonymous sender of this letter... the pumice stones have arrived in Pompeii ... Good luck for your future and 'in bocca al lupo', as we say in Italy," Gabriel Zuchtriegel wrote. The Italian phrase "bocca al luopo" (in German: into the mouth of the wolf) means something like "neck and leg break".
"Curse of Pompeii" – Young tourist sends back illegal finds from the city destroyed by the volcanic eruption. © Screenshot X/Gzuchtriegel
"Curse of Pompeii" has also haunted other holidaymakers
The so-called "curse of Pompeii" appears again and again. Other thieves have been haunted by bad luck. For example, 15 years after her visit to Pompeii, a Canadian woman sent stolen artefacts back to the excavation site. She blamed the theft for her cancer and financial problems. The illegal souvenirs have a "negative energy" after the tragedy surrounding the eruption of Mount Vesuvius occurred.
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The volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD wiped out the Roman city of Pompeii and Herculaneum. This catastrophe in antiquity was already seen in the past as a punishment from God. However, taking something from an excavation site as a souvenir is simply forbidden. Superstition, or simply a guilty conscience, leads people, like the young tourist, to return illegal holiday souvenirs.
On Platform X, one user commented, "People just *want* to believe in supernatural things. A lot of people get cancer without stealing anything, you know?" And he goes on to explain: "If B occurs after A, it doesn't mean that B was caused by A (correlation is not causation) Don't believe in curses! But also: Don't steal!"
Holidaymakers in Italy should familiarise themselves with some curious laws. In Rome, the city administration imposes sometimes draconian penalties, warns the Foreign Office, which are already pronounced for reaching into the water of the Trevi Fountain. On the beaches in Italy, it is sometimes forbidden to take sand with you - even in the smallest quantities. An influencer moaned about her vacation in Italy and is completely torn apart. (ml)