nearly 2000 years after the eruption of monte vesuvius, the roman town in its shadow are still being released from the petrification that engulfed them.
both pompei and stabie (castellamare di stabia), to the southeast of naples and the volcano, were suffocated by hot ash and volcanic pumice-stone.
the roofs of the buildings collapsed under the weight of the volcanic detritus. fabrics, jewellery, food, tools and utensils were largery destroyed.
to the west, helculaneum (ercolano) vanished under a sea of mud. a large number of its buildings have survived, their roofs intact, and many domestic items were preserved by the mud.
in all, about 2000 pompeians perished although few, if any, of the residents of herculaneum died.
most of the artefacts have been moved to the museo archeologico nazionale in naples, contributing to one of the world's most outstanding anf fascinating archaeological collection.
mount vesuvius has not erupted since 1944, and today interested visitors are quite safe to reach it by train or car.
there is so much to see at pompei that you will probably need a day to explore it.
