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Possibly most people are aware about Pompeii, the ancient Roman town in Italy which ruined and buried during the catastrophic volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Nevertheless its sister town Herculaneum, (’Ercolano’ in modern Italian) is almost unknown today.

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This ancient town was smaller and wealthier than Pompeii. The particular dynamics of the burial of Herculaneum -covered by flows of pyroclastic rock that solidified to an average height of 16 meters- has led to a phenomenon of preservation that is absolutely original and nothing at all like Pompeii, providing us with organic artifacts (plants, fabrics, furniture, structural parts of wooden buildings and even a boat discovered in 1982), but also and especially the upper floors of the buildings. This gives us a precise idea of volumes and building technique.

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[SUBURBAN BATHS:The Suburban baths built between the walls and the sea in the early 1st century AD. The building complex consists of a waiting room with a floor in "SignumOpus" which is powdered terra cotta, mixed with lime and sand, used to cover walls and floors to keep out moisture. A cold bathing room with a floor of white marble slabs and frescoes, a mild heated room with a floor of slate slabs and stuccoes on the walls, a hot bathing room, an apsidal room with a heated pool and a steam bathroom with its black mosaic floor on a white background.]

Dionysus of Halicarnassus attributed the founding of Herculaneum to Heracles returning from Iberia, while Strabo reports that the city first belonged to the Oscans, then Etruscans and Pelasgians, and finally the Samanites. Like Pompeii and Stabiae, Hercolaneum was also forced to enter the orbit of Nocera confederation, when it rebelled against Rome during the Social War, it was attacked and conquered in 89BC by the envoy of Silla, Titus Bidius, and was thereafter involved in the municipalisation process that affected all of central-southern Italy.

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['THERMOPOLIUM': The 'thermopolia'were public dining establishments that served hot food and drinks (whence the Greek-style name): It was customary to lunch outside the home. This is a typical, simple structure: one room opening onto the road, with a brick counter decorated with marble or terra-cotta slabs, into which were sunk the jars containing the goods.] 

The city, equipped with only modest walls, was built on a volcanic plateau, on a sheer cliff over the sea at the foot of Vesuvius, limited by two streams in the east and west. Two river bays formed natural, safe harbours. Trials of deep excavations in several points seem to indicate that the city layout, divided into regular lots, was not planned until the first half of the 4th century BC.

A profound renewal of construction struck the city during the Augustan period, when many public buildings were built or heavily restored, including the Theatre, the Basilica of Nonius Balbus, the acqueduct, the system of public fountains and the castella aquarium, the temples of Sacred Area, the Suburban Baths, the Central Baths , the Palaestra.

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[HOUSE WITH LARGE PORTAL: The name derives from the lovely half-columned portal, with brick lintel and cornice. It was built after the earthquake in 62 AD. The small courtyard to the left of the entrance gave the illusion of a yard, through the garden paintings that decorated the walls.]

The disastrous earthquake in 69AD made many buildings hazardous, and Vespasian financed the restoration of the so-called Basilica and of the Temple, not yet uncovered, located near the Palaestra and dedicated to the Magna Mater, but many other restorations are archeologically documented.

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[PALAESTRA: This gigantic building complex, used primarily for sporting activities, was built in the Augustan period (27 BC - 14 AD). Developed on two terraces, the building had only been partly uncovered. One enters through the monumental vestibule marked with two columns. The lower terrace is made up of a large area with porticoes on three sides and a cryptoporticus on the north side to support the terrace above. The long rectangular tub (fish -breeding pond) alongside the cryptoporticus was later replaced by the large cross-shaped tub with the bronze fountain depicting Lerna Hydra. A series of rooms open along the western side of the portico, including the vast, rectangular apsidal hall, nearly 10m high, with a niche at the back and marble table to be used in ceremonies of worship.]

The city was relatively modest in size. It has been hypothesized that the overall surface enclosed by the walls was approximately 20 hectares , for a population of approximately 4000 inhabitants; only 4.5 hectares are visibly open, while a few important public or residential buildings, uncovered with tunnels in the 18th century, are inaccessible today or are located outside the archaeological park (the Theatre and the Villa of Papyri).

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[HOUSE OF THE CORINTHIAN ATRIUM: One of the most ancient residences, medium sized, expanded with an upper floor. It has an entrance with twin brick columns and the atrium with three brick Corinthian columns on either side. The floor is decorated with shards of polychrome marble and the living room (diaeta) retains its coffered painted ceiling and walls.]

The digs began at Herculaneum in 1738, continued using the technique of underground tunnels and exploratory ventilation shafts until 1828, when the open air digs were authorized, and carried out until 1875. After a very long interruption, in 1927 Amedeo Mairi began the work once more, and continued to lead the digs until 1958. Additional work was done in 1961, in the northern sector of Insula VI along the main street or “Decmanus Maximus”, while the last twenty years have concentrated on exploring the ancient shoreline.

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[WOMEN'S BATH: Passing a waiting room with masonry seats along the walls one enters the changing room with a strigilate barrel vault. This is followed by the warm room withselves for storing garments and its meandering mosaic floor, and the hot room withvaulted ceiling and two sumptuous seats one of white marble and the other of dark red. Behindthese rooms are the heating furnace and the well, which drew water from 8.25m deep. The bath complex is connected to the palaestra, an outdoor courtyard surrounded by porticoes.]

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[HOUSE OF THE BEAUTIFUL COURTYARD: The building's layout is rather unusual: the atrium is replaced by an interior, mosaic- embellished courtyard, which acts as a landing leading to the various rooms that open onto it, and containing a staircase, with a gallery painted with ornamental motifs, leading to the upper floor.]

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[HOUSE OF NEPTUNE AND AMPHITRITE: This dwelling draws ones attention due to the rich decoration of the summer dinning room (triclinium). The conventional name of the residence derives from the glass paste wall mosaic depicting Neptune and Amphitrite which adorns the east wall of the room.]

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[SHOP: This food shop is annexed to the House of Neptune and Amphitrite, hose good state of preservation it shares. In addition the collapse of part of the ceiling allows us to observe the kitchen and a few of the rooms on the upper floor.]

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['SAMNITE'HOUSE: This residence built in the 2nd century BC and its currently visible appearance is the result of changes made over time. It first ceded its garden space to the adjacent House with Large Portal. After the earthquake in 62 AD, the rooms on the upper floor were separated from the house and rented out.]

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[HOUSE OF THE MOSAIC ATRIUM: This is an aristocratic residence elegant in both its painted decorations and architectural space. The "tablinum" (public room), aligned with the entrance, was converted into a hall with three naves, similar to a basilica, a room of extraordinary architectural significance that represents the only known example throughout the Vesuvian area. The garden, with its marble covered fountain, is surrounded on three sides by porticoes, and a windowed veranda on the north side.]

[TRELLIS HOUSE: This is a boarding house built almost entirely of "opus craticum" (economical building technique with square wooden frames filled with crushed rocks, bound together with lime and mud). This technique never used in Pompeii, while it is tried experimentally in Herculaneum -a more ‘advanced' town and more open to innovations from nearby 'Neapolis' (Naples). The residence is the source of conspicuous carbonized remains of wooden beds, wardrobes and a portrait.]

[VILLA OF PAPYRI: A private library, the only one preserved from the classical world is providing an unparalleled look into the classical era. Its 1800 fragile scrolls are carbonized and often difficult or impossible to read with the unaided eye. Since 1999 with the help of multi-spectral imaging scientists are able to "reconstract" images of that precious treasure]

Herculaneum with its astonishing state of preservation offers a sense of true discovery to the visitor. An oasis of tranquillity after Pompeii, Herculaneum exhumes serenity and its intimate environment affects the few tens of scattered, quiet visitors, in contrast to the thousands noisy tourists of Pompeii. There someone can really sense the past and make a trip into the centuries.

See also:

• Theatre of Epidaurus: A Marvel of Acoustics
• Temple of Epicure Apollo