Herculaneum Success

Peacock wall mosaic

After getting rained out at the end of our Pompeii tour and not getting to Herculaneum, we called an audible and went there before we left Naples yesterday instead of exploring our Spanish Quarter neighborhood. 

Herculaneum was buried under almost 80 feet of volcanic lava, ash, and rock -- four times the amount as Pompeii.  It was also buried much faster, in only a matter of minutes rather than two days like Pompeii. Because of this, Herculaneum is better preserved than Pompeii.  We saw more intact frescoes, wood that had been mineralized, and even a preserved boat.  It was a resort town for the rich, so many homes had elegant features still visible in the ruins today.  Herculaneum is also more compact than Pompeii, allowing us to see more of it in a few hours relative to Pompeii.

Original Herculaneum Street

We would have liked to stay longer, but it was still a great visit in spite of the rain.  We made it back to the train station in plenty of time to ride the Frecciarossa high-speed train to Rome.  Looking forward to sunnier weather and more history in the Italian capital.  

One of the well-preserved houses

Neptune wall mosaic