Italian cities under volcanoes

Herculaneum Keeper of the Secrets of Italy

Many have been to Pompeii, but few have heard of another city that was also hit by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. e. This is the Roman city of Herculaneum.

Now it is the territory of the Italian city of Ercolano, and it preserves curious treasures.

Herculaneum was more fortunate, he had two whole days before Vesuvius covered him with lava. The inhabitants had more time to leave their homes, although there are still skeletons of people in Herculaneum who were not so lucky.

The volcanic ash that covered Herculaneum has preserved Roman artifacts, frescoes, and mosaics. Herculaneum was opened to tourists in 1738, although archaeological research continues to this day. Archaeologists have unearthed the biggest treasure: a collection of papyri. It was probably a library and contained hundreds of original scrolls now held in the National Library in Naples, the Bodleian Library in Oxford and various other places.

In Herculaneum you can see the Roman Baths, the embankment where people tried to escape in a boat called in Italian fornici.

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