Location: Via 4 Novembre, Ercolano (Herculaneum), Campania region Map
Destroyed: August 24th, 79 AD
Open: Apr- Oct 8:30am-
5:30pm
Nov- March 8:30am- 5pm
Closed: 1 Jan, 1 May, 25 Dec
Entrance Fee: €7.5
Museo Archeologico Virtuale
Via 4
Novembre 44
Open: 9am- 5:30 Tue- Sun
Entrance Fee: €7.50
Herculaneum
or Ercolano in Italian is located in Campania region of Italy 5 miles (8km) South- East of modern Naples. Herculaneum is less famous victim of the Vesuvius that destroyed Pompeii on August 24th, 79 AD.
Beautiful Herculaneum was smaller in size and population (just 4000-
5000 citizen by modern estimation) yet people who lived here were
richer and higher in status. Their homes indicate great care and
wealth that they put into designs. Unlike its neighbor Pompeii,
Herculaneum was destroyed by a series of six volcanic avalanches of
pyroclastic flows (mixture of volcanic mud of high temperature that
reach 500°C, hot volcanic gas, pumice, rocks and hot ash) that
covered the city and instantly incinerated humans, organic matter
and other objects. Ironically solidified volcanic tuff also
preserved bones of Herculaneum residents and most importantly it
carbonized wooden objects that usually rot and disappear quickly.
This includes such fragile artifacts like tables, doors, food items,
combs and even fragments of a cradle with baby bones. It gives a
better idea of daily Roman life and ancient people.
Additionally, Herculaneum preserved oldest Christian home chapel
with a Cross mounted on the wall. As far as we know this is the
oldest example of Christian symbol anywhere in the former Roman
Empire.
Today a large part of Herculaneum have been
excavated in the volcanic rock. It gives an impression of the
magnitude of natural might that was unleashed on Herculaneum. If you
want to visit the archaeological site of Herculaneum in the summer
months don't forget to take plenty of water, get some sun block and
try to stay from the sun. It can get very hot here very quickly. The
entrance fee to the site is 7.5 Euros good for one day. If you want
to visit nearby Pompeii you can get a ticket for 20 Euros good for
three days. If you get hungry you can get food in small stores just
outside of Herculaneum Archaeological site. Don't forget to visit
MAV (Museo Archeologico Virtuale), a history museum dedicated to the
ancient Herculaneum and mementos that they left centuries ago. This
ancient site might be interesting and entertaining to both adults
and kids. Although the appearance of some of the frescoes might be
inappropriate for small children.
According to legend, Dionysius of Halicarnassus narrates that
Herculaneum was founded by Hercules, returning from Iberia with a herd
of oxen taken from Geryon, in 1243 BC, while historically there is no
certain information about its foundation due to lack of verification
elements such as finds, which do not go beyond the 2nd century BC.
Strabo claims that the city was founded by the Osci in the 12th century
BC: the hypothesis could be true as some transcriptions from the Oscan
language have been found, which would have remained in use in
Herculaneum until the Roman conquest. According to others, however, the
city was founded by the Etruscans between the 10th and 8th centuries BC,
when the whole territory came under the influence of the Italic people.
In 479 BC. Herculaneum was conquered by the Greeks, precisely by the
Pelasgians: under the influence of the Hellenic people, the urban layout
proposed by Ippodamo da Mileto was adopted, similar to the nearby
Neapolis, of which it is claimed that it was a suburb; under the Greeks
the mention of Herculaneum appears for the first time, precisely in 314,
in a writing by Theophrastus, with the Greek name of Ἡράκλεια. The city
was later expanded during the 5th century BC. after the conquest of the
Samnites; between the 4th and 3rd century BC it becomes part of the
Roman orbit: if during the second Samnite war its position is uncertain,
if deployed as an enemy of Rome together with Naples or as an ally with
Pompeii, in the third Samnite war it is against the Romans, being
subsequently defeated. It is in this period that the Romans begin to
prefer villas along the Herculaneum coast, building sumptuous
residences; during the social war, entered in the Nocerina
confederation, the city was attacked and conquered in 89 BC. by a legate
of Lucio Cornelio Silla, Tito Didio, thus ending its political
independence and becoming a municipality of Rome, administered by a
colony of veterans of the Sillano army. At the end of the republican age
it had already become an established holiday center for the Roman
aristocracy: Lucio Anneo Seneca, in his De ira, narrates that Gaius
Julius Caesar would have destroyed a villa near the coast of Herculaneum
in which the mother, avenging her. During the imperial era it
experienced its period of maximum splendor thanks to the tribune,
elected in 32 BC, and later declared patron, Marco Nonio Balbo, who
promoted the construction of new buildings, such as the Basilica and the
restoration of the walls: in the the same period was followed by the
construction of the theatre, the aqueduct and two thermal complexes.
In 62 Herculaneum was hit by an earthquake which made renovation
work necessary: an epigraph shows that Vespasian had the Basilica and a
temple restored at his own expense. The restorations had not yet been
completed when in 79, precisely on August 25, or in any case a period
after this date, it was affected by the eruption of Vesuvius: compared
to Pompeii, it did not suffer the rain of ashes and lapilli due to the
direction of the wind, despite being on the slopes of the mountain.
However during the night, following the collapse of the column of
volcanic materials, it was hit by pyroclastic flows at a speed of over
one hundred km/h at high temperatures, formed by water, mud, rock and
liquefied pumice, which covered it under a stratum varying from ten to
fifteen metres, which later reached twenty-five following other
eruptions, such as that of 1631. Over the years, this material has
solidified into pappamonte, a sort of tuff but softer, which has made it
possible to conserve materials organic materials such as wood, papyrus
and food, instantly charred by the high temperatures of the pyroclastic
flows. Herculaneum therefore ceases to exist; after the eruption there
is no recovery of an inhabited center: in 121 Hadrian orders the
reopening of the coastal road that passes through the city and goes from
Naples to Stabia and Nocera, along which some sporadic houses are built
Archaeological excavations, ☎ +39 081 8575347, pompei.info@beniculturali.it Full €11.00; Reduced €5.50. - From April 1st to October 31st: Herculaneum, Oplontis and Stabiae: 8.30 - 19.30 (last admission 18.00). From November 1st to March 31st: Herculaneum, Oplontis and Sabia: 8.30 - 17.00 (last admission 15.30).
1. House of Aristide
2. H. of Argo
3. H. of the Inn
4.
H. of the Genius
5. H. of the Skeleton
6. H. of the Bronze
Herma
7. H. of the Opus Craticium
9. H. of Galba
11. H.
of the double atrium
14. H. of the Alcove
15. H. of the
Deer
17. Samnite House
18. H. of the Great Portal
20.
H. of the Carbonised Furniture
23. H. of the Corinthian
Atrium
24. H. of the Bicentary
Public buildings
A.
City Baths
C. Palestra
G. Suburban Baths
I. Sacred Area
L. Terrace of M. Balbus
Much of Herculaneum is still covered by sediment and soil. Archaeological digs continue on this site as we speak. Although it is slightly smaller site than neighbouring Pompeii it is still easy to loose yourself here. For an ease of orientation we broke up the map of Herculaneum on insulas or city blocks. Each city block has several houses with numerous families that lived and died here. According to historian Lucius Cornelius Sisenna stated that settlement of Herculaneum was encircled by small defensive city walls that were constructed in the second century BC. Military fortifications had a rectangular shape that covered over over 20 hectares of land. After Herculaneum became part of the Roman empire walls lost much of its strategic purpose. They were simply incorporated into new buildings constructed around them. The city was ruled by political heads known as duumvirs. They were re- elected annually. At the time of its destruction it had a population of approximately 4000 residents. City arteries, its roads included five cardos and tri decumanus. City blocks were known as insula or insulae. Layout of the settlement is still broken into insula for ease of orientation.
View of the Suburban District of the ancient Herculaneum. This was the sea shore of the old town of Herculaneum before eruption didn't move the shore line half a mile further away by depositing geological sediments in the sea. The bottom row of arches is the boat docks where over 300 skeletons of women, men and children were discovered. On the extreme right you can see a rectangular building of the Suburban Thermae or Baths. Next to it is a terrace with an altar and a statue of town's benefactor M. Nonius Balbus. On the extreme left is the terrace that is known as The Sacred Area of Herculaneum.
House of Aristide and the House of Argo
Fullonica
Fullonica or cleaning service is a small business that survived the eruption. It is adjacent to the House of the Alcove and many archeologists suggested that it once belonged to the owner of the house. During archeological digs scientists discovered tanks for cleaning. Ancient Romans used acidity of urine to wash off dirt. Ancient Roman cities even had a job position that involved a worker walk around the city and ask for some urine for their business. In addition to the business part of the buildings, residential area of its workers was also found here. Living in the place that smelled like a giant toilet was probably pretty bad.
Other buildings in this part of Herculaneum include:
House of the Painted Papyrus, House of the Stofa
House of the Beautiful Courtyard
House of the Carbonised Furniture
House of the Corinthian Atrium
Other buildings in this part of Herculaneum include:
H. of the Tailor, H. Apollo the Citharist
Collegial shrine of the Augustales
Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum
Herculaneum streets and shops. The stones on the road were designed to allow citizens to pass the streets that were often muddy, but at the same time it would not prohibit wheels of carts to pass. Parts of the central street of Herculaneum, Decumanus Maximus, were closed to wagons and carts. Apparently these parts of the road were used as a forum of a city.
Herculaneum was built in the central area of the Gulf of Naples, at the
foot of Vesuvius, on a volcanic plateau overlooking the sea, protected
at the north and south ends by two valleys in which two streams flowed;
Lucio Cornelius Sisenna describes it thus:
«Oppidum tumulo in
excelso loco propter mare, parvis moenibus, inter duos fluvios infra
Vesuvium collocatum.»
(Lucius Cornelius Sisenna)
Strabone
instead praises the healthy air and its strategic position along the
coastal road. In its urban planning it retraces the Greek model proposed
by Ippodamo da Mileto: protected by walls, it had the shape of a regular
chessboard, divided into rectangular lots called insule, defined by two
types of road axes, namely the decumani, which in Herculaneum were three
and ran from east to west, following the coastline, and the hinges,
which were five and ran from north to south, descended from Vesuvius to
the sea; the streets were paved with volcanic or calcareous stone and
had sidewalks on the sides sometimes covered by porticoes near the
richest residences or, as in the case of the decumanus maximus, covered
along its entire length. In total Herculaneum had an extension of about
twenty hectares for a population which, at the time of the eruption, was
between 4,000 and 5,000 units: most of the people managed to get to
safety, few were found in the inside the buildings or on the streets,
while a group of about three hundred bodies were found charred dead in
the warehouses of the port, surprised in their sleep by the pyroclastic
flows.
The economy of Herculaneum was not based on manufacturing
activity but was mainly based on fishing, with the port area favored by
the two inlets at the mouth of the rivers, one larger to the east, the
other smaller to the west, and on agriculture with the cultivation of
olive trees, wheat, figs and vines and the production of wine such as
Lacrima Christi and Lympha Vesuviana. The city was equipped with a forum
and the main economic activities were given by the shops and the rental
of commercial premises and restored houses.
Having a mostly
residential function, the city enjoyed less cultural autonomy and this
favored the field of innovation, also visible in the architecture: in
fact, the Herculaneum house, compared to the Pompeian one, was smaller
but sometimes decorated more sumptuous, with the use of frescoes,
mosaics and marbles with the opus sectile technique. The most luxurious
houses were located along the edge of the hill, overlooking the sea, or
just outside the urban centre, such as the Villa dei Papiri for example:
the houses had running water but not all were equipped with a sewer.
Furthermore, compared to Pompeii, no electoral posters were found along
the walls in Herculaneum, just as the language of the graffiti appears
to be less ironic. The city was equipped with three thermal complexes
including the Suburban Baths and those of the Forum, a Palaestra, a
Theater capable of accommodating 2,500 people, several temples and
public buildings such as the Basilica and the Basilica Noniana, while
the walls, originally built for defensive purposes with large pebbles of
lava stone and pumice and in which narrow doors opened, which became
useless after the Roman conquest and were partly incorporated into the
buildings.
Between 1709 and 1710 during the construction of a well, a farmer came
across some pieces of marble: he had found the theater of ancient
Herculaneum; of the first excavations, through underground tunnels, were
conducted at the behest of Prince Emanuele Maurizio d'Elbeuf, but
interrupted shortly after by the judiciary for fear of collapse of the
buildings above. New explorations took place starting from 1738 at the
request of Roque Joaquín de Alcubierre to Charles of Bourbon, who was
joined in 1750 by Karl Jakob Weber: with the discovery of Pompeii and
the movement of vehicles and men towards the new site, the
investigations in Herculaneum they ceased definitively in 1780.
During the 19th century two short campaigns were carried out, this time
using the open-air excavation technique: the first from 1828 to 1855
commissioned by Francesco I delle Due Sicilie, the second from 1869 to
1875 led by Giuseppe Fiorelli, both suspended for few finds.
A
turning point in the investigations took place in 1924 with the
superintendent Amedeo Maiuri, followed later by Antonio De Franciscis:
after a long process of expropriations, in about twenty years of
excavation he brought to light four hectares, which correspond to the
extension of the current archaeological park, out of the total twenty of
the ancient city, which was followed by consolidation and restoration
works. Small excavation campaigns also took place during the second half
of the 20th century, when the site was mostly maintained: in 1997 the
archaeological excavations of Herculaneum, together with those of
Pompeii and Oplontis, were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site of
humanity. The majority of the finds found in Herculaneum are kept in the
National Archaeological Museum of Naples: they are objects of daily use,
paintings, mosaics and statues. In the Herculaneum houses, thanks to the
layer of pappamonte that was formed following the eruption, it is
possible to see the remains of pieces of charred wood, furniture and
partitions and it is precisely due to the solid layer of rock that the
site over the years it is protected from looting, due to the difficulty
of digging and the considerable depth.
The ancient Herculaneum and its findings have been the subject of
several films and documentaries. In 1962 the film directed by Gianfranco
Parolini, Year 79 - The destruction of Herculaneum, the city is the
backdrop to the events of the tribune Marco Tiberio and the slave Livia
in the hours of the eruption of Vesuvius.
The documentary Gli
skeletri del Mistero, which involved the archaeologist Mario Pagano, the
volcanologist Giuseppe Mastrolorenzo and the anthropologist Pierpaolo
Petrone, dates back to 2002: the theme is that of the discovery of the
skeletons along the ancient beach of Herculaneum.
Other
documentaries are Herculaneum diaries of darkness and light, by director
Marcellino de Baggis and The secrets of Herculaneum, made by Rai in
2019. Alberto Angela has dealt with Herculaneum several times: in
particular in the documentary Stanotte a Pompei and in the last episode
of the fourth edition of Meraviglie - The peninsula of treasures, where
he focused on the theater.
By plane
The nearest airport is that of Naples Capodichino Airport
wikivoyagewikipediacommons (IATA: NAP).
By train
There are
several train stations in Ercolano. Ercolano is connected to two railway
networks that work independently of each other.
The Portici -
Ercolano railway station is operated by Trenitalia and is part of the
Naples - Salerno line.
The Ercolano - Scavi and Ercolano - Miglio
d'Oro stations belong to the EAV-Circumvesuviana and are on the
Naples-Sorrento and Naples - Poggiomarino lines.
By bus
Ercolano is served by several bus lines from different operators. There
are both national and local bus connections.
From Naples,
Ercolano can be reached by bus with the operating company EAV.
In
the street
The toll motorway A3 A3 Napoli - Salerno - Reggio di
Calabria passes close to the town and can be reached via the symbol: AS
Ercolano.
Summers in this part of Italy might be unbearable. Keep
hydrated and protect yourself from the sun and heat. Wear a
hat and take some bottled water with you.
Keep an eye on
your belongings.
Take some cash with you. If you want to
buy something locally you probably won't be able to use your
credit card.