Pompeii, The Forum and Vesuvius, 1897
Underwood & Underwood stereograph from 1897 entitled: "The Forum of Pompeii and Vesuvius, Italy." A forum was a public square in a Roman municipium, or any civitas, reserved primarily for the vending of goods. The city of Pompeii was an ancient Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area, was mostly destroyed and buried under 13 to 20 feet ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Researchers believe that the town was founded in the seventh or sixth century BC by the Osci or Oscans and was captured by the Romans in 80 BC. By the time of its destruction, 160 years later, its population was probably approximately 20,000, and the city had a complex water system, an amphitheater, gymnasium and a port. Pompeii has been a tourist destination for over 250 years. Today it has UNESCO World Heritage Site status and is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Italy, with approximately million visitors every year. Mount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, best known for its eruption in 79 AD that led to the burying and destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Since then Vesuvius has erupted around three dozen times. The volcano became quiescent at the end of the 13th century and in the following years it again became covered with gardens and vineyards as of old. Even the inside of the crater was filled with shrubbery. Vesuvius entered a new phase in December 1631, when a major eruption buried many villages under lava flows, killing around 3,000 people. The last major eruption occurred in 1944.
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Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
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