Herculaneum

Today we visited the ancient Roman city of Herculaneum which like Pompeii was lost in the eruption of Mount Versuvius in AD79. Unlike Pompeii Herculaneum can be seen in almost its original splendor as it was buried in up to 19m of ash (Pompeii just 4m) which preserved the upper stories of the buildings. Also the ash was hotter which preserved the wooden parts of the buildings, food and even bodies. Herculaneum was a wealthier city than Pompeii so there is a large number of fine houses with lavish use of marble and mosaics. It is estimated the city was approximately 20 hectares housing a population of 4000, only 4.5 hectares has been excavated. The site is surrounded by apartment blocks.

It was a great place for 'Hide & Seek' as it was a bit like a maze and hard to find your way around. The decoration inside some of the houses was amazing, beautiful mosaics and frescos on the walls and floors and intricate carving details. The Taberna's  were interesting, (see pic below) they were basically pubs with a large marble counter which housed large dolia jars which contained food.  They were widespread and served hot food and drinks as it was unusual to eat your midday meal at home.

Mosaic of Neptune and Amphitrite

Pub with  dolia jars.

Remember this is 2000 years old!

Street water fountain