Sealed beneath volcanic ash by the eruption of Vesuvius, Pompeii and its smaller neighbour Herculaneum preserve streets, houses and everyday objects of Roman life in a completeness found nowhere else. The plaster casts of the dead, taken from the very cavities their bodies left in the ash, remain the site’s most affecting testimony.
At a glance
The Archaeological Areas of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata lie at the foot of Mount Vesuvius in Campania, southern Italy, and were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997. Pompeii alone covers some 44 hectares of excavated urban fabric, making it the most complete surviving example of a Roman city. The eruption of Vesuvius buried the city under several metres of volcanic ash and pumice, sealing organic materials, food, furniture, textiles and human remains that would otherwise have decayed.
The traditional date for the disaster, 24 August 79 CE, comes from the letters of Pliny the Younger, who witnessed the eruption and later described it to the historian Tacitus. An inscription found during excavation in 2018 refers to work carried out in mid-October, and many scholars now believe the eruption actually took place in autumn rather than late summer.
Key facts
- Location: Pompei, at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, Campania, Italy
- Status: UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed 1997
- Extent: around 44 hectares of Pompeii excavated, roughly two-thirds of the ancient city
- Key source: the letters of Pliny the Younger to Tacitus, the principal ancient eyewitness account
- Excavation pioneer: Giuseppe Fiorelli, director of excavations from 1860 to 1875, who introduced the plaster-cast technique and a systematic numbering of the city’s regions, blocks and houses
History
Pompeii was rediscovered in 1748 during well-digging works commissioned under King Charles III of Naples and Sicily, though early exploration amounted to little more than treasure hunting. Systematic, scientific excavation began only with Giuseppe Fiorelli, whose tenure as director from 1860 to 1875 transformed the site’s study: he devised the technique of pouring plaster into the voids left by decomposed bodies, recreating their form at the moment of death, and established the system of cataloguing the city street by street and house by house that archaeologists still use.
Work continues today under the Great Pompeii Project, an EU-funded conservation and excavation programme begun in 2012. Its most significant recent discovery is the Villa of Civita Giuliana, uncovered between 2018 and 2021, considered the best-preserved Pompeian villa found in the modern era. In 2021 excavators there found a ceremonial wooden chariot still standing in its garage, decorated with bronze and tin fittings and erotic medallions, one of the most striking single finds of recent decades.
What you see
The Forum forms the civic and religious heart of Pompeii, a broad colonnaded rectangular plaza with the Temple of Jupiter at its northern end, dedicated to the Capitoline Triad of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, and framed by the silhouette of Vesuvius itself. Nearby, the House of the Faun preserves extensive mosaic floors, including the celebrated Alexander Mosaic, now held in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.
Just outside the Porta Ercolano stands the Villa of the Mysteries, the largest suburban villa at Pompeii, whose dining room holds the most complete cycle of ancient wall painting to survive: twenty-nine life-size figures set against the deep red pigment known as Pompeian red, generally read as depicting a young woman’s initiation into the rites of Dionysus.
The plaster casts remain the site’s most visited and most debated feature. Around a hundred are displayed at Pompeii, among them the group known as the Garden of the Fugitives, thirteen figures caught fleeing through a vineyard, and the cast of a chained dog twisted in its final moments. Most of the roughly 1,150 casts made are held at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples or in storage. Four kilometres away, Herculaneum offers a different picture of the disaster: a wealthier town, more luxurious houses, and, because it was buried by denser pyroclastic material rather than ash, even better-preserved organic remains, including a wooden boat and the skeletons of people who died at the shoreline awaiting rescue.
Practical information
- Access: Pompeii and Herculaneum are separate archaeological parks with their own entrances; current entry arrangements and any combined tickets should be checked on the Pompeii Archaeological Park’s official channels
- Casts on display: the plaster casts shown at Pompeii raise ongoing ethical debate over the display of human remains, though the practice is legal under Italian cultural heritage law and the park continues to present them as part of the visit
- Excavation still ongoing: roughly a third of Pompeii remains unexcavated and work continues under the Great Pompeii Project, so some areas may be closed or under study at any given time
Getting there
Pompeii and Herculaneum lie at the foot of Mount Vesuvius in Campania, within easy reach of Naples; travel details, including train and road connections, are best confirmed through the official Pompeii Archaeological Park website before visiting.Nearby
- Herculaneum — about 4 km north-west of Pompeii, a smaller and better-preserved Roman town buried by denser volcanic material
- Mount Vesuvius — the volcano, 1,281 m high, that destroyed both cities and still dominates the skyline above the Forum
- National Archaeological Museum, Naples — holds the Alexander Mosaic from the House of the Faun and many of the plaster casts not displayed on site
Sources
- Pliny the Younger, letters to Tacitus
- Giuseppe Fiorelli
- Pompeii Archaeological Park
- Great Pompeii Project
- National Archaeological Museum, Naples
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