Herculaneum

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Herculaneum was an ancient Roman town, about 10 km (6 miles) west of Mount Vesuvius. It was destroyed by volcanic pyroclastic flows from Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE, together with the nearby city of Pompeii. It was buried by almost 20 m (70 ft) of ash and pumice. The deep pyroclastic material which covered it preserved wooden and other organic-based objects such as roofs, beds, doors, food and even some 300 skeletons. Herculaneum was a richer town than Pompeii, so it has more elaborately decorated houses. Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Its location was lost till it was rediscovered in the late 18^th century. It has been excavated ever since. However, most of the town is still buried under modern day Ercolano.

More details are in the Wikipedia entry for Herculaneum

Herculaneum with its burried city is another splendid example of the many sites of Ancient Civilizations that I visited during my travels.

All pictures are © Dr. Günther Eichhorn, unless otherwise noted.

Herculaneum

View over Herculaneum. You can see that there are at least three levels of buildings. (1164k)

View over Herculaneum. You can see how deep the excavation is below modern day Ercolano on the right. (1080k)

End of the excavated area. There is more buried under modern day Ercolano. (1339k)

Street view in Herculaneum. (1046k)

Street view in Herculaneum. (1131k)

Street view in Herculaneum. (897k)

Column colonnade in Herculaneum. (1131k)

Brick building in Herculaneum. (1217k)

Brick building. It is often impossible to decide what is original and what is reconstructed. The steel beam over the door on the right is reconstruction. I don't know how much of the wall above the beam is reconstructed, or whether it is all original. (1234k)