July 8, 2018

About 150 miles (241 kilometers) south of Rome looms one of the worlds most dangerous volcanoes.  This still-active volcano has erupted several dozen times since it destroyed Pompeii in 79 AD and it is expected to erupt again.

In 79 AD there were around 20,000 people living in the area, more than half of those inside Pompeii.   The town is situated about 5 miles from the volcano and in those days it was much closer to the sea.  Many people escaped but about 2,000 died from the eruption. They were then covered by 82 ft. (25 meters) of debris over a 6 hour period.

The ash and debris effectively halted time until 1748 when excavation began.

A Bakery

I love that there are so many public water fountains around Italy.

The city was much larger and better preserved than I expected.  We were only there for one day and were only able to see a small portion.  What we did see was amazing.

The House of the Vetti, the home of two successful freedmen (former slaves) where many of the frescoes remain intact.

Suburban baths and entrance to the city

Some of the streets had deep ruts in the stone from wagons.

VISIT TIP:  It is possible to make this a day trip from Rome, which is what we did.  We took the early morning, fast train to Naples and then took the Circumvesuviana  to Pompeii Scavi.  NOTE:  The Circumvesuviana route splits- make sure you are on a train to Pompeii Scavi and not just the new town of Pompeii.  It was a fairly easy and short trip at about 1 1/2- 2 hours in all.  Also, this was one of the 2 places we did not pre-book tickets (in part because we were unsure if we would stop at Herculanium on the way)  The line was short, at that time in the morning.  The downside to a day trip was that it was a very rushed visit and we did not see everything we wanted to.   Hopefully we can return and spend several days in the area.  It is also very helpful to have some sort of audio guide or book.  We downloaded free guides from the internet to our phones.  I would still recommend a single day if that is all you have in your schedule.  It is well worth the trip.