Herculaneum

Two days ago, from the port of Naples we took a tour including a drive of the Amalfi Coast and a guided visit to the archaeological site of Herculaneum. Today's post will just be about the visit to Herculaneum, since it's such an amazing place with so much to see. As you probably know, Herculaneum, along with Pompeii, was destroyed in the huge eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79, and both cities are like moments frozen in time, almost 2000 years old. Unlike Pompeii, which was covered with volcanic ash, Herculaneum was buried in hot mud, which preserved some perishable materials like wooden doors and beams. In this picture, you can see the deep layer of hardened volcanic material that was excavated to reveal the city:

A view of Herculaneum

Visitors can see all sorts of interesting locations that give a window into the daily life of ancient Romans. For instance, there are several of these "snack bars," which were like fast food restaurants situated on street corners where average people could gather to eat from foods kept in these large round vats.

An ancient Roman "snack bar" in Herculaneum

This picture didn't turn out so well, but hopefully you can see the four different colored jugs on the bottom. This is an advertisement painted on the wall next to an ancient wine ship, advertising the different types and prices of wares:

A wine advertisement in Herculaneum

Finally, another of my favorite aspects of the tour to Herculaneum was being able to see beautiful mosaics, like this one of sea creatures decorating the floor of the bath houses...

A mosaic floor from Herculaneum

...and another wall mosaic from the house of a well-to-do citizen. You can see that the ocean theme of the mosaic is continued in the ring of seashells that borders the whole thing:

Another mosaic from Herculaneum

Our tour guide, Daniela, was very knowledgeable and informative, and led us on a great walk through the city. It's haunting to think about walking in the footsteps of this ancient disaster, but it's really a fascinating and rich glimpse into history!