Since the first excavations almost three hundred years ago Pompeii has played a huge role in galvanising a general interest in archaeology, antiquity, history and, in latter years, the importance of preservation. Whole academic disciplines, not to mention industries, have been founded on the basis of this interest. One could almost say that Pompeii, as much as the great discoveries by Europeans in Egypt, played a huge role in the fact that we tend today to accept as self-evident that these subjects are important in terms of understanding our heritage, and that cultures which deviate from the high standards of research and preservation that we proudly aim to adopt do so on grounds of ignorance, malevolence or unfortunate economic circumstances.
However it is already beyond irony that this catalyst for the promotion of an appreciation of these facets of our common heritage is now being destroyed through the attempt of the public at large to share in the experience. It is time Pompeii be thanked for its massive contribution and gracefully "retired" from its participatory role in engendering public enthusiasm. We have, if we desire it, ample enough a record of what has been excavated there to adopt several alternative options should we choose to, and which can still present a riveting and educational experience to an interested public. But it is time the fabric of the extant city be protected for posterity, and a genuinely interested and educated public should understand that.
There is, in short, no good reason anymore for Pompeii to be open either to the elements or the public.