A short distance from Naples stands Hercunaleum, a small town that was buried like Pompeii by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D.

Unlike Pompeii, Herculaneum wasn’t hit by ashes and lapilli, but by a real river of mud which devasted roads and buildings in the city. Having dried and solidified in time, the mud detritus caused huge damage to the walls of the houses, saving other materials such a wood  and even improving its conservation over the centuries.

Excavation work began in Herculaneum in 1738 commissioned by King Charles of Bourdon. In the beginning wells excavated which revealed objects of various kinds, as well as paintings, sculptures and inscriptions. Open-air work began later and revealed the structures of the city, still partly buried in the subsoil of the modern town.