Monday 13th May 2019
Herculaneum was a wealthy ancient Roman city that was engulfed by the same pyroclastic flow from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that consumed nearby Pompeii in AD79.
Today we drove over toward Naples to visit the archaeological site.
There is convenient underground parking nearby and we soon found our way to the visitors centre to buy entrance tickets at €13 each.
Having collected up a map and guide book we presented our tickets and entered the diggings. Our first view of the site came as we descended a wide walkway to the bridge that serves as the entrance to the city proper.
Digs commenced to uncover Herculaneum in 1738 following a discovery of some statues while digging a deep well in 1709. Digs have continued sporadically ever since. The city was preserved under an average depth of 16 metres of pyroclastic rock.
Because the flow carbonised, even organic artefacts, plants, furniture, wooden building structure were well preserved unlike Pompeii.
We made our way around the city visiting various buildings that have been uncovered, each having a convenient numbered sign that coincides with the map and guide book. A few of the buildings we visited were;-
The House of Argos with stuccoed columns that once supported the upper floor. Here the excavators found loaves ready to be baked and jars with olives.
We next came across a Thermopolium. These were public dining establishments that served hot food & drinks. This one opened out to the road and had marble slabs with inset jar containers for the goods.
Continuing up the street we came across the House Of The Skeleton.
Thus named because a skeleton was found during excavations in 1831. It has a small courtyard with a mosaic coverd lararium and frescoed walls.
We then entered the Mens Baths. Fully uncovered in 1931, the bath was originally fed by a large well. To one side is a warm room featuring a black and white mosaic of the sea god Triton with dolphins, squid and a cherub.
The Woman’s Baths nearby were of a similar layout and contain a better version of the Triton mosaic found in the men’s.
We continued around visiting more of the buildings, guided by our map, before we arrived at the Terrace Of M. Nonius Balbus, a large rectangular piazza.
Centre stage is the funeral altar of the senator and a marble statue of him in armour. At this point we had to rush for cover as the heavens opened 🙂
Once the shower had passed we made our way down to the Barrel Arches.
These vaulted rooms, at the time of the eruption, opened out onto a sandy beach. Many of the residents had come to the arches to escape the eruption and more than 300 perished due to the temperature of the gases. Their skeletons where discovered in 1980.
To complete our tour we visited the museum where some of the finer artefacts are displayed. Many of the finer items now reside in museums around the world.
