The other archaeological site we visited in October 2025 was a lesser-known town that was also covered by the eruption of Vesuvius. It’s on the other side of the mountain from Pompeii. They began digging and revealing the ruins of this place earlier than they started Vesuvius— 1709 as compared to 1748 for Pompeii. The modern town of Ercolano encompasses the historic ruins of Herculaneum.

Herculaneum was a smaller and more wealthy city than Pompeii.

Unlike Pompeii, the mainly pyroclastic material that covered Herculaneum carbonized and preserved more wooden objects such as roofs, beds, and doors, as well as other organic-based materials such as food and papyrus. (Thanks, Wikipedia!)

It was recommended we not miss this and only go to Pompeii. We were not disappointed!

First Glimpses

The local train that took us from Naples to Herculaneum.

Overview of the excavated town, with the current town above, in the distance.

Vesuvius looming in the distance.

Showing how deep the place was buried.

One of those food halls. You can see the big terra cotta pots the had food in to serve from.

A bakery with the grain mill. This site had photo tableaux around, suggesting how life might have been—at some point, but not A.D. 79!

Worker with cement mixer. Ongoing restauration.

This floor cracked and dropped a foot from where it was originally.

Cool to see shells of buildings that were two stories.

Preserved wood in the stone walls! I never think of wood in these ancient buildings.

Ruins cat!

The cat found some friends!

Nice signage throughout the site.

Layers of wall construction become wall sculptures to me!

Rich color on the frescoes remain.

I love the way they've preserved and shown the many layers of construction.

Impression of stairs up to second floor that was.

Second floor colonnade, and likely reconstruction of what the ceiling was.

Amazing Mosaic Pavings

There were many gorgeous black and white floors.

Were they really uncovered this beautifully intact?

Or, some pretty amazing restoration was done.

I'd have to research this…

Here you can see where pieces were missing, and they mortared the spaces.

Cool additions of colorful stones in the black field.

This is probably a tedious job.

Beautiful stone cross section to feature in the field of black.

Whoa, this is a long hallway!

Mosaic entry mat to the long hall.

Wow!

One Very Impressive Room

Great fireplace with beautiful mosaic decoration.

Stunning mural and vibrant frescoes had covered the walls all around.

Detail showing how shells were even used as tesserae in this mural.

Other Interesting Bits

Artwork painted as frescoes directly on the walls.

They put a frame and glass over this one to protect it.

Terra cotta slabs make nice still life.

Ongoing restoration.

Entering a lovely grove.

… of pomegranate trees!

Falling fruit caught by a fence makes a nice composition.

One of several lovely quotes near this peaceful rest place under the pomegranates.

Interesting how they reconstruct parts of statues to display the finds.

A fruit orchard in the courtyard of a palazzo.

Farewell Herculaneum—Ercolano!

Herculaneum

First Glimpses

Amazing Mosaic Pavings

One Very Impressive Room

Other Interesting Bits

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