A young tourist, whose name remains unknown, sent a handful of pumice stones to Italy along with a letter apologizing for stealing these stones during a trip to the ancient city of Pompeii.
The woman writes that she didn’t know these stones were cursed, but within a year of bringing them home, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“I didn’t know about the curse. I didn’t know I couldn’t take stones from there. Within a year, I got breast cancer. I am a young and healthy woman, and doctors said it was just bad luck. Please accept my apologies and these pieces of stones. I’m very sorry.”
The Italian city of Pompeii was buried under a thick layer of ash during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. It was only discovered in the 16th century, and excavations began in the 18th century.
Today, this city is actively visited by tourists, who are strictly prohibited from taking any historical artifacts from there or chipping off pieces of walls.
The tourist’s letter was published online by Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the director of the Pompeii archaeological park, with the following comment:
“Dear anonymous sender of this letter, the pumice stones have arrived in Pompeii. Good luck to you in the future.”
This is not the first time tourists have returned stolen ancient items to Pompeii, believing them to be cursed. In 2020, a Canadian named Nicole sent a package to Italy containing two mosaic tiles, parts of an amphora, and a ceramic piece that she stole from Pompeii.
Nicole, who visited Pompeii in 2005, said she was returning them after they brought her “15 years of bad luck.” She wrote a confession letter detailing her theft and the subsequent misfortunes, including two cases of breast cancer and financial difficulties.
“Please take them back, they bring misfortune,” Nicole wrote.
She explained that she took the artifacts because she wanted to own a part of history that no one else had, but they turned out to have “so much negative energy associated with this land of destruction.”
According to Gabriel Zuchtriegel, they have received hundreds of similar apology letters from thieving tourists over the years. Many of them also cited the curse.
“Many people write to us about the alleged curse and tell us about the misfortunes they experienced at work and during illness: these are touching and sad things. Many write that they are returning items stolen when they were children, thefts that occurred decades ago.”
Николь, которая ездила в Помпеи в 2005 году, сказала
