Herculaneum (Ercolano)
Photos by Erik Anderson

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Herculaneum, named after the Greek hero Hercules, is located on the west coast of Italy between Naples and Pompeii.  Upon the eruption of nearby Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE, the city was buried under 60 feet of mud and was not rediscovered until 1709.
 

Villa of the Papyri (Villa dei Papiri) site where charred scrolls containing the writings of Philodemus and several other Epicurean philosophers were recovered.  At far right: friend, Michele Pinto


More Photos of the City...

 

 

The entrance and descent to the ruins


Herculaneum street


Statues
(originals are at the
 Naples Museum)


A relief and a fresco.


 
Floor mosaics & tile-work.


Wall mosaics

 


An orchard now
grows at the site of
an ancient inn


Michele & Erik
at a public spa


An alcove of ill-repute?
(the entrance to this little niche
is directly on the street)


Atrium of an up-scale domicile.
The basin, or Impluvium,
collected rain water

 
At the edge of the excavation:
column still buried in the mud.

 

More frescos


Charred remains of wooden rafters
that once supported the ceiling