Ercolano, Italy: the Road to Herculaneum

 On our first full day in Italy, we decided we were going to see Herculaneum and Pompeii. They are relatively close to each other, and we figured it would be do-able. Once we boarded the local narrow-gauge train Circumvesuvia and spoke with other people, we realized that plan would not work...there is no way to see them both unless you absolutely run through them - not exactly the way we wanted to do it.

 We decided instead to just see Herculaneum the first day. This meant taking the train from Sorrento to Ercolano (see map below). Exiting the train, we were to head downhill towards the Gulf of Naples coast, where the Herculaneum excavations (Ercolano Scavi in Italian) are located. Once we got the Herculaneum site, it dawned on me that I should have taken photos, so I turned around and took the first photo in this post. It is looking uphill back towards the Curcumvesuvia station. Too bad the Indian gentleman refused to get out of the way. The streets are narrow and full of fish markets, but the walk is only about a half-mile and feels relatively safe.

The train ride typically takes about an hour from Sorrento to Naples, so Sorrento to Ercolano is just a bit shorter than that. When you exit the train station at Ercolano, head right. The street will bend left within about a half block and then head straight for the coast.

This is a map of the excavations. The first photo in this post was taken about where it says "Enter" on the right side of the map. The gray area that heads across the south side of the map is actually the walkway to the Visitors Center, which is located approximately at the southernmost point on the walkway.

 Here is the key to the map above. It is in Italian, but google should be able to help you find the equivalent names in English. This is the map they hand you when you purchase your ticket. 46 and 47 were closed on the day we visited so we won't be covering those in these posts. Now, let's show you some of what you can see while walking from the entrance to the visitors center.

 Turning the camera around and looking the opposite direction from the first photo in this post, this is what you see. The already excavated portion is to the right of the walkway. Pretty much everything to the left of the walkway has not been excavated yet. What treasures are still waiting to be discovered?

 Taking a few more steps and pointing the camera to the right and down, we begin to see some of the excavated city. Notice how the city of Ercolano is built right to the edge of the excavations. There has to be even more treasures under those buildings. The large amount of scaffolding towards the center of the photo covers the Upper Hall (aula superiore) along the Decumano Massimo. It is undergoing conservation efforts right now, and many workmen were as busy as bees. The two-story building to the left of the scaffolding held businesses on the ground floor and homes on the second floor. In one of those shops, a cabinet was found that contained documents that described the current and former owners of all the properties in town. What a great find! The cabinet is still there, but I am sure the documents have been moved elsewhere. Herculaneum is the only excavation in Italy with 2 story buildings that are still standing.

 Herculaneum has been much better preserved than Pompeii in the 2000 years since the Mount Vesuvius eruption. The reason is that Herculaneum was covered in mud, which helped perserve objects, especially wood, much better. Pompeii was covered in volcanic ash. Walking farther along the path, we approach some trees. Cypress trees, if I'm not mistaken.

 Here is my beautiful wife posing for me beneath one of the trees from the previous picture.

 Looking to the left of the walkway, there is a small section that has been excavated, complete with an intact 2000 year old tile roof. This is a part of the Roman Gymnasium which was built around a colonnade with a cross-shaped pool at the center.

 Looking to the right again, here is what was over my wife's shoulder. The fabulous city of Herculaneum. The roof in the foreground has obviously been restored.

 And finally, we make it to the Visitors Center. It is a nice building with restrooms and a desk where tickets can be purchased. It is a large building but it is practically empty because it only holds what I just described. They give visitors the option to buy a pass for all excavations in the area, which is what we chose to purchase.

This is the side of the building that faces the part of Herculaneum that has been excavated (the side to the right of the walkway). Notice that a sliver of the Gulf of Naples can be seen along the horizon. Herculaneum was basically a seaside resort town. The average folks lived in Pompeii.

 In the previous photo you can see people walking towards the right - they will soon be on a large levee-like structure that separates the excavations from the bay. The photo to the left was taken standing on that levee, looking to the right (towards the excavations, not the bay). 2000 years ago, the levee did not exist...the buildings you see in this photo were on the beach. To the right of the photo is the Suburban Thermae (suburban baths) and to the left of that are the boat houses. 250 skeletons were found in the boat houses, having been pushed to the seaside by the heavy smoke and mud. The wetlands in the foreground is known as the Antica Spiaggia.

 Here is a closeup of a statue from the previous photo. This statue is of Marco Nonio Balbo and was found in many pieces on the ground. It has been rebuilt using those pieces. The roof on the right side of the photo is original and is the roof of the Suburban Baths. The interior of those baths have not been excavated so in 2006 they used a 3D laser scan to map the architecture and room contents inside. More on that in a future post.

 Also taken from the levee, this is a closeup of Casa dei Cervi (House of the Deer - number 8 on the excavation map), a beautiful home with many fine paintings still on the walls. The owners of this home had awesome views of the Gulf of Naples, and judging from this original patio deck then took full advantage of it. More on this home later on.

 And finally, looking up a random street towards the heart of the city. The roof in this photo is not original, but has been recreated to protect paintings from the elements.

Here is a photo showing a part of the levee from which I took the previous photos. Towards the middle of the photo you can see the bridge that will take us over to the city itself.


But that will have to wait for a future post. Stay tuned, this is going to be a spectacular tour.