A visit to Pompeii brought bad luck to a vacationer. She believes 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 artifacts from Pompeii. Now she is seriously ill and regrets her actions.
Cursed after visiting Pompeii? Vacationer 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 apology and these pieces,” the woman wrote. And I'm sorry.”
The director of the archaeological park of Pompeii, Gabrielzuchtriegel, published a photo of the note and stones on the platform X.
“Dear anonymous sender of this letter… the pumice stones have arrived in Pompeii… now good luck for your future and 'in bocca al lupo', as we say in Italy,” wrote Gabrielzuchtriegel. The Italian phrase “bocca al luopo” (in German: into the mouth of the wolf) means something like “broken neck and legs”.
“Pirates of Pompeii” has also followed other vacationers
The so-called “Curse of Pompeii” keeps cropping up. Other thieves have felt unlucky. A Canadian woman sent stolen artifacts back to the excavation site 15 years after her visit to Pompeii. She blamed the theft for her cancer and financial problems. The illegal souvenirs had a “negative energy” after the tragedy surrounding the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
The volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD wiped out the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. This catastrophe in antiquity was already seen in the past as a punishment from God. However, taking anything from an archaeological site as a souvenir is simply forbidden. Superstition or simply a guilty conscience causes people like the young tourist to return illegal holiday souvenirs.
On Platform X, a user commented: “People just *want* to believe in supernatural things. A lot of people get cancer without stealing anything, you know?” He goes on to explain: “If B occurs after A, that doesn't mean B was caused by A (correlation is not causation) Don't believe in curses! But also: don’t steal!”
Vacationers in Italy should be aware of some strange laws familiarize. In Rome, the city administration sometimes imposes draconian penalties, warns Foreign Office, which are already pronounced for reaching into the water of the Trevi Fountain. On some beaches in Italy it is forbidden to bring sand – even in small quantities. One Influencer complained about her vacation in Italy and is completely torn apart.(ml)
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