Have you ever visited the excavations of Herculaneum? I wanted to go there for a long time and, finally, I managed to fulfil my desire at the beginning of April. The ancient Herculaneum was buried due to the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, and it was discovered by chance in 1709 when excavations were started
to build a water well. Since 1997 the excavations of Herculaneum are among the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and many of the finds brought to light thanks to the excavations, today, you can see them on display at the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. There is parking for cars that has an affordable price, we paid € 6 for about 3 hours of parking, but payment can be made only by an automatic machine: as payment with the ATM may not work, I suggest you have some coins with you to avoid any problems.
The admission ticket costs € 11, the first Sunday of the month is free, and there is the possibility to take the audio guide. Next, to the ticket office, there are official (authorised by Campania), offering their guide to visit the excavations. Their cost varies depending on the length of the visit:
– € 60 for about 1 hour and a half tour;
– € 100 for just over two hours visit (the duration can also be slightly higher, also depending on the speed of your step and how many questions you ask);
One thing that struck me is the skeletons that you can see at the beginning of the visit: they correctly reflect the idea of how the inhabitants of ancient Herculaneum didn’t understand what was happening. All the people who lived there, arrived there where, at the time, there was the sea (today, 400 meters away) and there they remained there because, at that time, they had no alternative to reaching the sea.
The city is well preserved, and it is also easy, with the necessary explanations, to discover and understand how life took place at that time! Walking through the ancient streets, which still allow us to understand the structure of the old Roman cities, you can see the “shop-houses” where the shop was located on the ground floor and the house upstairs. The remains of the taverns, also facing the streets of the ancient city, I think are some of the elements that best represent the life of the time and also to understand what were the features of ancient Herculaneum. The places of “social life”, just like the taverns, I believe help visitors to imagine how the city could be before the fateful eruption that hid everything for several centuries (at least for me it was).
I advise you not to skip the seat of the augustals whose “college”, located in the area of the forum, was dedicated to the emperor Augustus.
I advise you not to skip the seat of the augustals whose “college”, located in the area of the forum, was dedicated to Emperor Augustus. The building has a square-shaped plan, and it is worth noting the cell where are still visible some frescoes that tell us a part of the history of Hercules, which gave its name to the city of Herculaneum. On the left side we find the representation of the entrance of Hercules in Olympus, accompanied by Jupiter, Juno and Minerva; on the right wall, instead, we find the fresco that tells the fight of Ercole with Acheloo. The body of the custodian of this building was found lying on the bed that was in the room used as a “caretaker’s room”.
If you want to finish in the best way your visit, I suggest you to go to the old gym! Or, for a little ‘relaxation (so to speak) you can go to the ancient baths (mixed men – women)