That’s No Pizza: A Wall Painting Found in Pompeii Doesn’t Depict Italy’s Iconic Dish

This handout photo taken and released on 25 June by Parco Archeologico di Pompei (Archaeological Park of Pompeii), shows a 2,000-year-old Pompeian painting, a still life, found by the new Regio IX excavations, depicted on the wall of an ancient Pompeian house that could be a distant ancestor of modern pizza. (Handout / Parco Archeologico di Pompei press office / AFP)
This handout photo taken and released on 25 June by Parco Archeologico di Pompei (Archaeological Park of Pompeii), shows a 2,000-year-old Pompeian painting, a still life, found by the new Regio IX excavations, depicted on the wall of an ancient Pompeian house that could be a distant ancestor of modern pizza. (Handout / Parco Archeologico di Pompei press office / AFP)
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That’s No Pizza: A Wall Painting Found in Pompeii Doesn’t Depict Italy’s Iconic Dish

This handout photo taken and released on 25 June by Parco Archeologico di Pompei (Archaeological Park of Pompeii), shows a 2,000-year-old Pompeian painting, a still life, found by the new Regio IX excavations, depicted on the wall of an ancient Pompeian house that could be a distant ancestor of modern pizza. (Handout / Parco Archeologico di Pompei press office / AFP)
This handout photo taken and released on 25 June by Parco Archeologico di Pompei (Archaeological Park of Pompeii), shows a 2,000-year-old Pompeian painting, a still life, found by the new Regio IX excavations, depicted on the wall of an ancient Pompeian house that could be a distant ancestor of modern pizza. (Handout / Parco Archeologico di Pompei press office / AFP)

A still-life fresco discovered recently in the Pompeii archaeological site looks like a pizza, but it's not, experts at the archaeological site said Tuesday.

They noted that key ingredients needed to make Italy's iconic dish — tomatoes and mozzarella — were not available when the fresco was painted some 2,000 years ago.

Tomatoes were only introduced to Europe from the Americas a few centuries ago, and some histories have it that the discovery of mozzarella led directly to the invention of pizza in nearby Naples in the 1700s.

The image is instead believed to be a focaccia covered with fruit, including pomegranate and possibly dates, finished with spices or a type of pesto, experts said. In the fresco, it is served on a silver plate and a wine chalice stands next to it.

The contrast of the frugal meal served in a luxurious setting, denoted by the silver tray, is not unlike modern-day pizza, “born as a poor-man’s dish in southern Italy, which has won over the world and is served even in starred restaurants," said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Pompeii archaeological site.

The ancient Roman city of Pompeii was destroyed in the eruption of nearby Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. The sudden and deadly event left much of the structure intact, embalmed in volcanic ash, and the site is now a major archaeological project and tourist attraction.

The Coldiretti ag lobby immediately seized on the discovery of the fresco to promote pizza — invented as a quick meal for the working poor — as a national treasure. Today, pizza represents one-third of the food budget of foreign visitors and generates total annual revenues of 15 billion euros ($16.4 billion) in Italy.

The art of the Neapolitan pizzamaker was put on UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list in 2017, recognized for its four phases of dough preparation and for being baked exclusively in a wood oven at 485 degrees Celsius (905 degrees Fahrenheit).



Chinese Travel More during Dragon Boat Holiday but Spending Lags

Spectators watch as participants take part in a dragon boat tug-of-war competition in the waters of Xujiachong harbour to mark the Dragon Boat festival, in Yichang, Hubei province, China May 31, 2025. China Daily via REUTERS
Spectators watch as participants take part in a dragon boat tug-of-war competition in the waters of Xujiachong harbour to mark the Dragon Boat festival, in Yichang, Hubei province, China May 31, 2025. China Daily via REUTERS
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Chinese Travel More during Dragon Boat Holiday but Spending Lags

Spectators watch as participants take part in a dragon boat tug-of-war competition in the waters of Xujiachong harbour to mark the Dragon Boat festival, in Yichang, Hubei province, China May 31, 2025. China Daily via REUTERS
Spectators watch as participants take part in a dragon boat tug-of-war competition in the waters of Xujiachong harbour to mark the Dragon Boat festival, in Yichang, Hubei province, China May 31, 2025. China Daily via REUTERS

Chinese people travelled more over the three-day Dragon Boat holiday this year, but spending remained below pre-pandemic levels, government data showed on Tuesday - indicators that are closely watched as barometers of consumer confidence.

Consumption in the world's second-largest economy has suffered amid sputtering growth and a prolonged property crisis, with uncertainty from the US-China trade war also weighing on consumer confidence.

The latest data painted a mixed picture for China's consumer economy. Travelers took an estimated 119 million domestic journeys from Friday to Monday, up 5.7% from the same holiday period last year, according to the Ministry for Tourism and Culture.

Overall spending over the period rose to 42.73 billion yuan ($5.94 billion, a year-on-year increase of 5.9%, but the average amount spent per traveler was a little under 360 yuan ($50), according to Reuters calculations, remaining stubbornly below 2019 levels of around 410 yuan per trip.

The Dragon Boat Festival took place from May 31 to June 2 - and is celebrated throughout the country with local dragon boat races. Many people take the opportunity to have short holidays, crowding train stations and airports around the country.

Cross-border journeys rose 2.7% to 5.9 million, with 231,000 foreign nationals entering the country visa-free during the holiday, broadcaster CCTV said late on Monday.

China has been expanding its visa policy, with citizens of 43 countries granted visa-free access, while visa-free transit for up to 240 hours in China is available for 54 countries.

Rail lines saw the peak of return passenger flow on June 2, with authorities adding 1,279 trains to more than 11,000 passenger trains overall across the country, while road travel was up 3% year-on-year, with 600 million car journeys recorded, mostly travelling short distances.

Chinese also boosted spending on entertainment over the holiday, with cinema box office revenue reaching 460 million yuan ($63.9 million), surpassing last year’s 384 million yuan, according to data from online ticketing platform Maoyan.

Tom Cruise’s latest movie "Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning" topped charts, and generated 228 million yuan, half of the total revenue during the holiday period, which was seen as a positive indicator for the upcoming summer season.