Naples (Italy) | Herculaneum - 3 June, 2023

Arriving in Naples, I finally got a nice view of Mt. Vesuvius. The volcano is still active and has erupted many times since 79 A.D. when the towns of Herculaneum and Pompeii were lost. However, the last eruption was in 1944. Since then, the volcano has released chiefly sulfur-rich steam during its minor events.

Near Naples Central Train Station, I open my email. There's an email from Ryanair about my trip to Bordeaux in a few days. RATS! My flight has been canceled. There's an ongoing strike with airport employees in France. Even though they have offered to rebook my flight at no cost, I wonder if I can still make my retreat? I have a few more things to address while I'm in Naples now. I'll set some time aside tomorrow morning to look at my options. It's too late in the day to worry about this now.

After looking at the options, I realized I needed some help. So, I contacted Céline and let her know my flight was canceled. I decided to fly to Toulouse, France, a day earlier to ensure I made the retreat. This should allow me to avoid the issues at Bordeaux, but it complicates my arrival at the Plum Village. "I live in Bazas, France (halfway between Bordeaux and Toulouse). Plum Village is about 40 minutes from Bazas. I have room for you, you can stay here. I'll give you a ride to Plum Village on Friday," she says. I am grateful for the offer, and it will work out great! Plus, I can explore options with Céline for my visit after the retreat.

I look forward to reconnecting with the friends I made last time I was in Europe. It is one of the reasons why I wanted to return to here. But this time, I want to experience travel by connecting with friends in their hometowns, like when I visited Borja in Madrid.

With my trip details settled, I decided to visit Herculaneum instead of Pompeii. The ancient city is not only less famous than Pompeii, but the eruption in 79 A.D. preserved the down differently. Since mostly hot volcanic ash landed on the town, many natural fiber textiles survived (i.e., rope, baskets, wood, etc.). In contrast, in Pompeii, the molten lava burned all these artifacts since it was much hotter.

The Herculaneum Archeological Park's entrance is in the middle of the modern-day Ercolano commune, approximately 20 minutes south of Naples, by train.  

It's a beautiful warm day as I make my way to the entrance to the archeological park.

First glimpses of the ancient city of Herculaneum, which was buried under 25 m (82 ft) of ash. On the right side of the photo, you can see the modern-day city built on top of the ancient city. Ancient Herculaneum was discovered in 1712 A.D. Part of the old city remains buried below the modern city.

I'm used to seeing solid columns made of a single material. However, this column shows that the Romans often built columns from multiple materials. This one has three different layers (i.e., brick and mortar-bottom, cement-middle, and plaster finish-top).

There are several very well-preserved frescos in the interior of houses in Herculaneum. The people that lived here had considerable wealth for a small fishing village.

One of my favorite mosaics is the women's bathhouse floor. The bathhouse is well preserved, with cubicles still remaining above the benches. The mosaic includes several sea creatures, including octopus, squid, and starfish. The entire floor is composed of thousands of tiny tiles.

I am in awe of the opulence before me. I've always heard that Romans were known for beautiful decorations. However, this is my first time seeing it so well preserved. It is incredible. I feel privileged to experience this today. A truly fantastic site!

Roughly 20% of Herculaneum has been excavated. There are major efforts to restore much of what has been exposed. For many years, little was done to protect the buildings, and the ancient city began falling into ruins due to visitation. Today, there is an active effort to restore and re-open parts of the city that are closed off for safety reasons.

The poppies and green fields of the terrace of this building are a nice contrast to the stone and beige I see all around me. In the shadows of the opening, I see two archeologists who appear to be downloading data and reviewing their findings. Because the ancient city is still an active archeological site, some parts of the city close and become temporarily inaccessible to the public. The great thing about this is it makes the site dynamic. I know my experience will be different next time I visit Herculaneum.

In the southwest part of the ancient city is a series of boat sheds. This was once the ocean's edge, which allowed the city to thrive. 

When Mt. Vesuvius erupted, some of the people in the city took refuge in the boat sheds. In 1982, when the boat sheds were excavated, approximately 20 skeletons were found in each shed. More than 300 skeletons were found. Romans, during this period, nearly always cremated bodies. Little archeological evidence remains. However, discovering these skeletons has shed new light on Roman life (e.g., genetic diversity, medical conditions, nutritional conditions, etc.). If you want to see more of Herculaneum, check out this video.

I spent a few hours here and could have spent a lot more. This was one of the most interesting and rewarding archeological experiences I have had anywhere. In my past experiences, I have been lucky to witness a few components of ancient civilizations. Usually mostly through the ruins of their buildings and civilizations. This results in a great deal of speculation and hypothesizing about the culture. Herculaneum is different. Although there is much to be discovered here. The picture is much more complete with evidence about textiles, nearly intact ruins, skeletons, and common household items that made life possible. This was not only time but euros well spent !! 😄