The city was devastated by the eruption of Vesuvius, as was Pompeii
After years of excavations, the ancient beach of Herculaneum in Italy has been opened to the public for the first time. There about 300 people tried, unsuccessfully, to escape the eruption of the volcano Vesuvius that devastated the city and its more famous “sister”, Pompeii, in 79 BC
The recovery project was carried out by the Archaeological Park through a public-private partnership with the Packard Humanities Institute and funding from CIS Vesuvio.
The inauguration was attended by numerous groups of tourists and visitors. In the medium term it is planned to restore the strip of sand from that period, allowing walking along the coast, with a route never seen before up to Villa dei Papiri. The two areas of ancient Herculaneum will thus be able to be connected again as they were in the pre-eruption period.
The beach was partially excavated in the early 1980s, when the city’s seafront came to light. However, the work was interrupted.
In recent years the site has been subject to corrosion and degradation due to natural factors, but the situation has been mitigated by restoration works.
Now visitors can get close, for example, to the arches containing the skeletons of people who tried to escape during the eruption, but were unable to escape by sea.
“We believe in creating, remembering, valorising this area which has also had its value recognized by UNESCO and which is one of the most important archaeological areas in the world. We are convinced that this will represent an opportunity for socio-economic development”, Lo said the Minister of Cultural Heritage, Gennaro Sangiuliano.
According to studies, Herculaneum was destroyed about 12 hours after Pompeii and was under about 20 meters of lava.
The excavation work began even later, around the 18th century, because a city of the same name was quickly rebuilt near the ancient area. .
Source: Terra
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