Ruins of Herculaneum

Tour code: CP02

Duration:  3 ½ hours

Price: Starting from Euro 45.00 per person

TOUR DESCRIPTION

As far as we can tell today, Herculaneum seemingly was an Italic city founded around the 4th century B.C., copying, in the geometric regularity of its structure, the lay-out of Naples. It is quite disconcerting for any visitor who is acquainted with the “historic centre” of Naples to see how the “decumani” (the main streets, with an east-west orientation) and the “cardines” (narrower streets, with north-south orientation) of Herculaneum are perfectly identical to those of the Parthenopean city. There is undeniably a “feeling” about Herculaneum which is quite different from what one “feels” in other ancient world centre brought to light so far, including Pompeii. To a large extent this is due to the special circumstances of its interment by Vesuvius during the eruption of A.D. 79: the city was not struck by ashes and lapilli, but by a torrent of mud flooding down from the slopes of the volcano. Having solidified and become tufa-like, it constituted for centuries the best possible defense against atmospheric agents and against illegal excavators. This is the reason for the more intimate atmosphere (compared to Pompeii) that emanates from the houses: wooden elements, foodstuffs, fabrics are preserved intact, thus offering a unique vision of private life in antiquity.