Last month I turned 60 and Blandine gave me the best birthday present ever... I had been dreaming of seeing Pompeii ever since I was a little kid and had read about it in history books, but I never seemed to get around to it. Blandine organized a trip without telling me. Not any old rushed touristy tour, but a leisurely, in-depth tour where I could wallow in archeology until it came pouring out of my ears. And while we were at it, we spent several days taking in the nearby city of Naples, Mount Vesuvius, the island of Procida... and... Herculaneum!
I'll cover the other places in future posts, but I'll start off with Herculaneum. Smaller and less famous than Pompeii, it is in many ways even more impressive. On the other side of Mount Vesuvius from Pompeii, it too got covered in ash in the volcanic eruption of 79AD and became a capsule in time. Unlike Pompeii, it was covered in a different type of material, that preserved wood and organic matter, with the result that you can even see beds and tables and even food and scrolls, albeit carbonized.
To get to Herculaneum, you land in Naples, as we did, and then take a train or a metro that goes to Herculaneum, Pompeii and Sorento. Make sure you take the right train, because all of them don't stop in Herculaneum. We made that mistake, and watched Herculaneum flash by our horrified eyes as the train did not stop there. We had to get down in Pompeii and take a train back. Luckily, no one checked our tickets, as we had taken tickets only up to Herculaneum. We could of course have done the two places in the reverse order, but then we had booked a hotel for that night in Herculaneum.
We stayed that night at Ercolano, which is the modern town abutting the archeological site of Herculaneum. Ercolano, by the way, is what the Italians call Herculaneum. We stayed in a luxurious B&B called 7cento Vesuviano, which is just a short walk from the entrance of the archeological site. It is an ancient villa which the owner has converted into a B&B. That afternoon, we took a bus ride to see Mount Vesuvius (see next post). We spent the evening rooting around Ercolano, which is a charming little town with a couple of minor tourist attractions and okay-ish food.
Early next morning, 8:30 AM, we were at the gates of Herculaneum, right when it opens, to avoid the tourist rush that happens later in the day. We spent a major part of the day there, and took an evening train to Pompeii. More on that in the next post.
These are the pics of Herculaneum:
This is the first sight of Herculaneum, as you enter the site. As you can see, it has been painstakingly dug out of the earth. At the top, you can see the drab buildings of present-day Ercolano, which is the ground level. This photo is taken from the entrance ramp, also at ground level, looking down. You have to descend the ramp to enter Herculaneum.
Another view from the entrance ramp, a bit further up.
Looking down, you see a series of arched enclosures. Those are beach warehouses. That strip of land you see at the bottom was the beach. Herculaneum was a wealthy seaside resort for the Roman rich. This was the beach front, with waters lapping at the bottom. When Vesuvius erupted, the magma cover all this, and the shore line moved about 1 km down. You can see the present-day shoreline from the top of the ramp, looking behind you.
Those warehouses were used for storing amorphas of wine and olive oil and other products which were shipped by the ships that laid anchor here.
You can also see the town square with statues. A closer look at that when I go down the ramp and enter the site.
There is a tragedy associated with the beach warehouses. In the early stages of the eruption, the townsfolk took fright and fled towards the sea. Women and children took shelter in the warehouses, while the men braved it out on the beach. To no avail, they were all killed by the fumes. Their skeletons can still be seen in the warehouses and the beach. In some of the warehouses, you can still see the products ready for shipping. Unfortunately, public access to this area was blocked off when I visited, so I had to be content with taking long shots from the top of the ramp. Here are the closeups:
a sideways look at the beach, while descending the ramp. You can see another ramp going down to the beach. That is currently blocked to the public.
OK, at the bottom of the ramp, entering Herculaneum proper.
The town square, at eye level. The same one viewed in previous photos from the top of the ramp.
An opulent villa with hanging decorations: discs of marble with carvings. No, I don't think the wire is original. I think they found these on the floor and re-suspended them with modern wires.
A bakery, with grinding stones and ovens.
A restaurant. That is the serving counter, with embedded amorphas that was used to store the heated food that was served to customers.
Another restaurant. Lots of restaurants here, a bit like modern Italy.
Close up of the serving counter.
A room with sunken mosaic flooring.
Original window grills, still surviving
Closeup of the drainage system. Ignore the modern rainwater pipe. The waste water exited the house below ground level and entered the municipal gutters.
The atrium of a villa, with rainwater harvesting. The rain fell into the atrium from the open roof, and was collected in this fountain, and stored in cisterns on the side.
The grill of the underground cisterns
These modern looking wooden partitions were used to divide the atrium into one large guest area, or a private room and a smaller guest area. This is what is special about Herculaneum, you can still see fixtures like this.
A still-surviving bed
The open roof of the atrium.
A shop. You can see the wooden mezzanine floor, the amorphas of wine and olive stored to one side.
A grand room with the frescos well-preserved on the wall.
a street in Herculaneum
A water trough
Another shop, with slotted shelves for holding the amorphas and a weighing scale
A bit of Roman advertisment on outside walls of a building.
Parting view.
A perfectly preserved boat, which you can see in a special enclosure at the site entrance. This was found somewhere near the skeletons on the beach that you see above. Remember, this was the shoreline, when Vesuvius erupted.
