If possible, Herculaneum may have been a worse place to be on August 24, 79 AD than Pompeii.
In the early hours of the Vesuvius eruption it didn't seem this way, as the ash burying
Pompeii did not affect Herculaneum nearly as badly. This is because the prevailing winds
were blowing to the southeast – while Herculaneum was much closer to the summit of Vesuvius
than Pompeii (within less than four miles), it was almost due west of the mountain and was
therefore not covered by the ash cloud to the same degree. Even so, the people of the
smaller (population 4,000-5,000) but more upscale Herculaneum began to evacuate shortly
after the eruption started, most apparently successfully. And it was good that they did,
as early pyroclastic flows that failed to reach Pompeii swept across Herculaneum with room
to spare, rendering it lifeless by 1 AM of August 25. But not everyone got out – in the
1990's, a concentration of hundreds of skeletons was discovered in boathouses along the
ancient waterfront, possibly residents waiting to be evacuated by sea. Instead, they were
roasted by pyroclastic flows and then buried by flows of volcanic mud and debris now known
as lahars, which inundate areas and then set like concrete. By the time the
mountain was done with them, the town of Herculaneum was entombed under 75 feet of
rock-hard volcanic material, which had moved beyond the city to push the shoreline outward
by a quarter of a mile. While not so great for the inhabitants, this mode of burial had
the effect of preserving Herculaneum even better than Pompeii, while at the same time
making it more difficult to access.
Like Pompeii, Herculaneum was mostly forgotten for several centuries. Eventually a new
town called Resina grew up on top of the site of the destroyed city. Herculaneum
was rediscovered by accident in the 16th Century during digging for the construction of a
well. Some further digging occurred during the 17th Century, but mostly for the purpose
of finding artifacts to add to personal collections. When the Pompeii ruins were
discovered, digging efforts were largely stopped at the Herculaneum site for awhile and
moved to Pompeii, as digging was much easier there. Work on the excavation of Herculaneum
eventually resumed and proceeded off and on from the 17th through the 20th Century (the
town of Resina renamed itself to Ercolano, the Italian version of Herculaneum, in
1969), and remains a work in progress. An estimated one-quarter of the city has been
excavated to date. The digging is complicated by the hardness of the material the ancient
city is buried in, the need to take measures to protect things as they are unearthed, and
the fact that much of the ancient city has a modern, functioning community on top of it.
Getting to the Herculaneum area was quicker for us than getting to Pompeii had been the
previous day. For one thing, we had a better idea of where we were going, and for
another, Herculaneum is considerably closer to Naples than Pompeii is. But finding the
diggings once we got off the train at the Ercolano Scavi stop was a little
trickier, as the Herculaneum excavations were a much longer walk from the station than
Pompeii had been from the Pompei Scavi station. The proper directions are to turn
right on exiting the station, then turn left at the first street and go downhill (down
the lower slope of Vesuvius) toward the sea. Part way down there is a somewhat confusing
roundabout, but continuing straight downhill will eventually get you to an archway
announcing the entry to the ruins (see above). After passing through the archway, the
excavated portion of Herculaneum comes into view on the right. Herculaneum is much
smaller but better preserved than Pompeii, and is essentially in a large pit which is
surrounded by 20th Century buildings and apartment houses.
Entering the Archway (0:16)
Excavated Area
Excavations and Sea
Excavated Area (0:33)
We reached the ticket office by continuing straight toward the
sea along the edge of the pit until we got to the far side of the pit. After getting
tickets (we got them at half price because of our ArteCards), we went through a turnstile
and continued along the seaward edge of the pit. Looking down, we could see what had
been the seashore prior to August of 79 AD.
Ancient Shoreline Area
Shoreline Area
Herculaneum City Street
Eventually we reached a temporary-looking footbridge which took us over the former
seashore area and into the ancient city.
Excavated Area and Footbridge (0:26)
Entry Bridge
Crossing the Bridge (0:19)
Unlike at Pompeii, it's not difficult to explore all that's available to a Herculaneum
visitor in a reasonable amount of time. On balance, we found Herculaneum to be better preserved,
as advertised. For the most part, the walls had more to them, and evidently a few of the
structures still had their original roofs (though they'd been covered with more modern materials,
for their protection). It was easier to find recognizable frescoes and mosaics than in Pompeii.
The structures tended to be large homes, as Herculaneum residents were mostly well-to-do, many
with other homes in other cities. By contrast, while Pompeii had several large homes, there were
also large numbers of small dwellings lined up along the side streets. Also unlike in Pompeii,
we didn't see any temples in Herculaneum, and in fact very few structures that were anything
other than large homes. Names have been assigned to the homes as they've been unearthed,
usually based on artifacts found in the homes (e.g. House of the Skeleton) or on circumstances
related to their discovery (e.g. Bicentenary House).
Colonnade, House of Argus (0:29)
Bicentenary House (0:28)
Columned Walkway
House of the Skeleton (0:25)
Shrine, House of the Skeleton
Mosaics and Alcove
Mosaic, House of Neptune and Amphitrite
House of Neptune and Amphitrite (0:24)
Non-homes seemed to consist of a bath house, an arched area that was apparently boathouses by
the shore, a few thermopolia, and not much else. A thermopolium was a food
establishment with counters holding large, embedded clay jars. Coals were kept in the jars,
and food was placed on metal trays on the tops of the jars (appearing as holes in the counter)
to keep the food warm. But excavation is ongoing - there is a large fenced-off area where work
is in progress, so evidently there are more discoveries on the way.
Connie and Nella at Thermopolium Counter
Thermopolium (0:56)
Floor Mosaic, Forum Baths (0:21)
Forum Baths (1:15)
The streets were pretty much intact, and wandering up and down them and entering
the doorways we found yielded interesting results. As mentioned earlier, it didn't
take too long to explore all that was available to us.
Nella on Cardo III
Decumanus Maximus
Cardo IV
Connie on Cardo IV
Nella and Bob, College of the Augustals
Fresco, College of the Augustals
College of the Augustals (0:30)
Nella, House of the Black Atrium (0:26)
Cardo IV, North End
House of the Black Atrium and Cardo IV (0:30)
Philip on Cardo V
Telephus House
Unlike some of the 79 AD residents, we were able to escape from Herculaneum by walking across
the shoreline area into a tunnel that sloped upward to exit back up on the rim of the pit
holding the city (a rim that didn't exist in 79 AD).
Altar and Statue of Proconsul Marcus Nonius Balbus
Connie and Philip with Altar
Escaping Family and Ancient Waterfront (0:21)
Tunnel Escape (0:26)
We retraced our steps and stopped at a small restaurant for lunch on the way back to the
train station. Despite the tourist attraction proximity, we found the food reasonably
priced and very tasty.
Connie and Philip with Herculaneum and Vesuvius
Pizza di Ercolano
On returning to Naples, we felt that the day was too young to waste on succumbing to jetlag,
so we embarked on one more adventure for the day: a visit to the Capodimonte Museum.