Pompeii and Herculaneum

Pompeii

80045 Pompei, Naples, Italy

Visiting Pompeii was a must on our trip.

In 79, the eruption of Vesuvius led to the destruction of the city. The exact date of the eruption is still unclear. The catastrophe was long dated to August 24, 79, but according to recent archaeological discoveries, it seems that the event took place in the autumn of 79.

The city was covered up to seven meters by a layer of eruptive material, which protected it from looting and bad weather. It remained frozen at the time of the eruption. Thanks to an ingenious casting technique, the victims can now be seen in the attitude in which death surprised them. During the excavations carried out since 1748, some 1,100 bodies have been found, victims of the falling pumice stones or the pyroclastic flows that followed the eruption. However, this represents only a small part of the victims of the catastrophe considering the parts of the city that were not excavated.

The archaeological site is impressive, very large but poorly indicated. It takes a good full day to have a good overview of the site. Several visits are necessary to see everything.

We opted for an audio guide tour to get a little more information about the history of the site, but we regretted not having taken a real guide.

Herculaneum

Corso Resina, 187, 80056 Ercolano NA, Italy

Like Pompeii, Herculaneum was completely destroyed by the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius in 79.

Smaller than Pompeii, the surface area of the ancient city is estimated at twenty hectares, of which only about 4.5 ha have been cleared. It is therefore only partly uncovered. Most of the public or religious buildings are unknown to this day. The hard crust of volcanic tuff that covered ancient Herculaneum made it possible to build a new city. The archaeological excavations stopped where the settlement of the current municipality of Ercolano begins.

The population at the time of the disaster was estimated at four thousand inhabitants.

Initial research had unearthed only about ten human remains, supporting the hypothesis that most of the population had fled to safety by leaving the city. However, excavations carried out between 1980 and 1992 on the ancient coastline near the ramparts proved that the population of Herculaneum had not fled, but had partly regrouped in premises near the beach, probably believing that they would be protected in this way.

Herculaneum is less famous, less vast, and less visited than Pompeii. However, it is better preserved. The highlight of our trip.

See you soon !