Eruption – EAT SLEEP LOVE TRAVEL

Have you ever heard of Herculaneum? I’ll be honest I hadn’t until I had the opportunity to visit this overlooked town whilst visiting Southern Italy last month. I’m sure we all know the story of Mt Vesuvius erupting in 79AD and wiping out Pompeii by covering it with ash and pumice. Well guess what? This affected Herculaneum too! Along with Pompeii, Herculaneum took the full force of the famous eruption, yet many have never heard of it! There is a strong indication that Herculaneum was originally a Greek town as it is believed that Herculaneum was named after the Greek hero Hercules, son of Zeus.

Herculaneum (Ercolano), unlike Pompeii, was hit with pyroclastic flows therefore wooden objects were preserved here such as roofs and doors of buildings. Yes, Pompeii is very well preserved but I personally think Herculaneum is even more so. In fact it is so well preserved the mosaic floors look like they could have been laid yesterday. Another reason many say that Herculaneum is Pompeii’s prettier sister is the fact that it was a much wealthier town to begin with grand houses and buildings clad with coloured marble and decorated with beautifully bright and detailed frescos, some of which are still visible today.

Beautiful mosaic floor in Herculaneum, Italy

Herculaneum is located approximately 10km from Naples and 40km from Sorrento, where we were staying. If you are to drive yourself from either of these cities please note that they are both toll road routes. We booked our trip via Acampora Travel at a cost of (approximately) £30 per person which included pick up and drop off in a comfortable coach together with a detailed audio tour lead by a very knowledgeable guide. Entrance to the archeological site was not included in that price. You must ‘pay on the door’ as with most historic sites in the area at a cost of €10 per person. Don’t forget to pick up a guidebook and a map of the site especially if you are visiting without a tour guide as Herculaneum is easy to get lost in. We are testament to that and we DID have a tour guide(!)

It is hard to pinpoint exactly when Herculaneum was ‘found’ however most research points to some point during the 18th Century when tunnels were discovered. But open-air excavation didn’t actually begin until the 1920’s under archaeologist Amedeo Maiuri. It had always been believed that the town had been evacuated before Mt Vesuvius in 79AD erupted however in the 1980’s over 50 skeletons were found near the town’s port. The excavation and investigation of the bones was funded via a grant from the National Geographic Society. Herculaneum, together with neighbouring towns, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site under the official name ‘Archaeological Areas of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Torre Annunziata’ in 1997.

There isn’t a time limit on how long you can spend on the excavated site which is open between 8.30am and 7.30pm in the Summer months (beginning of May until the end of October) and between 8.30am and 5.00pm in the Winter months (the rest of the year). We had approximately 3 hours here on our guided tour which looking back possibly wasn’t long enough. Obviously, our guide didn’t take us to all the buildings that have been excavated successfully because if she had done that I don’t think a week wood have been long enough let alone a day. And there wasn’t much time allowed at the buildings she did take us to. More often than not Mr ESLT and I were playing catch up to the rest of the group as we were taking pictures. So, in my opinion – yes it’s nice to be accompanied by a guide as you are likely to find out more information than if you went it alone however by going it alone you can take your time – swings and roundabouts!

So would I recommend Herculaneum – yes! It is a beautifully preserved town with a bit more ‘glamour’ about it and quieter than Pompeii. However, if you only have time to visit one of the towns in the Bay of Naples that was wiped out by the eruption Mt Vesuvius then my heart is saying Herculean for its beauty and my head is saying Pompeii for the well known history. And as with all open air sites in Italy, if visiting during the summer months don’t forget sunscreen, hat and a bottle of water.

As soon as it was decided that Mr ESLT and I were going to travel to Sorrento in Southern Italy I knew straight away I wanted to visit Pompeii. I don’t remember learning about it at a school but the city has always been of interest to me through TV shows/films I had seen about it. The fact that we were staying under an hour away sealed the deal – we were going to see it! (Check out the hotel we stayed at here). I, maybe like others, had always been under the impression that when Mt Vesuvius erupted (8km away) all those years ago (it was actually 24th August 79AD) Pompeii had been covered in the lava which had spilled out from the volcano. WRONG! The first thing I learnt was that in fact it was ash and pumice that covered the city which was home to approximately 11,000 – 11,500 people at the time.

It wasn’t under the 16th century that the city was rediscovered but it wasn’t until 1748 that exploration of the site began by order of the King of Naples Charles III of Bourbon. Excavation continued until the nineteenth century. Even when we visited recently certain parts of the city are closed due to continual restoration work. Pompeii was originally a port town on the Sarno River but now following the eruption it now stands on a spur formed by the lava inland.

Pompeii is one of Italy’s most famous tourist destinations with over 2.5 million people visiting every year and is located 24km from Naples and 26km from Sorrento (where we were staying). It obtained UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. We took an organised trip from our hotel with Acampora Travel. We had a great tour guide called Ugo. The cost per adult was £39.50 (this also included transport to Mt Vesuvius later in the day – post to follow). This did not include the entrance fee (€11) which you have to pay on arrival as the money goes directly to the Italian government.

The cost of the excursion also included audio guide which allowed us to listen to Ugo as we wandered around the ruins – within a limited distance of course. This gave us the freedom to snap pictures at our leisure whilst still listening to the information Ugo was giving us about each building/street/structure etc. I personally recommend an audio tour because the site is so big (66 ha, of which approximately 45 ha has been excavated) that I’m sure many people have got lost and/or not really understood what it is that they are looking at(?). If you do decide to go it on your own don’t forget to pick up a guide and map from the entrance.

Pompeii is amazing. The ruins of this city which was lost almost 2,000 years ago are a sight to behold. Because structures, artefacts and bodies were so well-preserved it has given archaeologists and historians the ability to determine what each building was and how the Roman’s lived at the time. A great morning well spent with our camera. There are a few restaurants and of course the obligatory souvenir stalls just outside the old city walls if you want to grab lunch or a reminder of your day.

If you decide to visit Pompeii don’t forget to wear sensible shoes and take a bottle of water with. Also, if the weather is great, like it was when we visited I’d advise a hat and sunscreen too as there isn’t much shelter from the hot Italian sun.