The Buried Roman City of Herculaneum near Naples in Southern Italy


Herculaneum, or Ercolano, in Italy was not buried by falling rocks like Pompeii was in the eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD, instead it was engulfed in boiling mud. This preserved roofs, buildings and artefacts for future generations to find. The newer town sits on top of the excavations and most of the town is still underground. Herculaneum is better preserved than its more well known neighbour, Pompeii and it is easier to visualize how life was lived there before the night of the 24th of August 79AD when the sleeping giant erupted. The modern town can be seen just above the excavations


Size: 6016px × 4016px
Location: herculaneum naples
Photo credit: © Brenda Kean / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

Keywords: 79ad, amphitheatre, ancient, archaeology, basilica, baths, brenda, bricks, buildings, buried, city, columns, counters, culture, death, decorations, destruction, earthquake, eruption, excavations, faun, forum, fresco, gods, herculaneum, historic, history, houses, italy, kean, lava, mosaic, mud, paintings, palestra, pumice, pyroclastic, roman, rome, ruins, seafront, shop, skeletons, statues, tourists, treasure, vesuvius, villa, volcano, wall, warehouses