Tourist returns ‘cursed’ stones to Pompeii after a year of ‘bad luck’

If you are lucky enough to visit a site of great historical significance, then it's probably a good idea to be respectful of the site.

One person who visited Pompeii seems to have suffered some consequences of not respecting the historic site during their visit.

The woman took some volcanic rock from the site as a souvenir, but then returned them with a note apologising, and explaining that they had suffered 'bad luck' in the intervening year.

Archaeologist Gabriel Zuchtriegel posted an image of the note and the stones to Twitter, along with the caption: "Dear anonymous sender of this letter … the pumice stones arrived in Pompeii… now good luck for your future & in bocca al lupo, as we say in Italy."

'In bocca al lupo', literally 'in the wolf's mouth' is a popular Italian expression meaning 'good luck'.

As for the note, it was written by hand, and read: "I didn't know about the curse. I didn't know that I should not take any rocks. Within a year I got breast cancer.

X/@GZuchtriegel

"I am a young and healthy female and doctors said it was just 'bad luck'. Please accept my apology and these pieces. Mi dispiace [I'm sorry]."

The apology in Italian is a nice gesture, though surely Latin would be better if you are addressing the spirits in a Roman city?

Sadly the note is not the first time that someone has returned artefacts they took home with them to the Roman city after getting cancer.

In 2020 a similar note arrived in the city that read: “I am now 36 and had breast cancer twice. The last time ending in a double mastectomy.

"My family and I also had financial problems. We’re good people and I don’t want to pass this curse on to my family or children.”

Alper Sitki Ersoy/Anadolu via Getty Images

Needless to say, regardless of whether you believe in curses or spirits in ancient places, taking 'souvenirs' from them is not something to be encouraged - this isn't the British Empire.

Pompeii and Herculaneum are iconic sites due to how well preserved the city was after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

The sites have fully intact streets, with murals inside some of the buildings even being intact in some places.

Some of the racier murals even scandalised visitors to the city after its rediscovery. They found the lewd illustrations rather at odds with the historical impression of Rome as the centre of modern civilisation and enlightenment.