The curse of Pompeii has reportedly struck again. A young foreign tourist who stole some stones from the Pompeii excavations recently returned them to the archaeological park, saying she had been unlucky and had cancer since the theft.
The director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, Gabrielschikriegel, recently anonymously received some small pumice stone objects that the woman had stolen during a visit. The tourist apologized in a handwritten letter in English.
Rumors are circulating about the ‘Pirates of Pompeii’
‘I didn’t know about the curse. I didn’t know I shouldn’t have taken the stones. Within a year I was diagnosed with cancer. I’m young and healthy and the doctors say it’s just ‘bad luck’. Please accept my apology and these pieces. I’m sorry,” the woman wrote. The rumor has been going around for years that anyone who steals stones or other material from Pompeii will have bad luck.
The German culture manager sighriegel answered her immediately. “Dear anonymous sender of this letter… the pumice stones have arrived in Pompeii… Good luck for your future and ‘in bocca al lupo’ (‘good luck’ in Italian, take note), as we say in Italy, so grow bars. On X (formerly Twitter) he also published a photo of the letter and the three returned pumice stones (see message below).
The Roman city of Pompeii on the Gulf of Naples was wiped out in 79 AD when Mount Vesuvius erupted and ash and lava buried the settlement. About 2,000 people died. The city was rediscovered in the 19th century. Today, Pompeii is one of the best preserved ancient city ruins and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Bad luck: Canadian woman sends stones back
In 2020, a Canadian woman who had stolen some stones from the excavations in 2005 also returned them to the archaeological park, saying she had been unlucky since the theft. Financial and serious health problems have plagued the 36-year-old since she stole the stones from the excavations during a visit to Pompeii, she pointed out.
The woman apologized for her actions, from which she had learned a lot. “I was young and stupid. I wanted to take a piece of history home with me and I didn’t think about what exactly I was taking with me: a piece of history in which strong negative energy has become petrified. Many people died in a terrible way and I took stones with me from this devastated area,” the Canadian wrote.
Source: Krone
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