Herculaneum, Oplontis and Boscoreale

Another busy day visiting 3 locations close to Pompeii and all buried by the volcanic eruption.

First was Herculaneum which was a town like Pompeii but different. Whereas Pompeii seems to have been a town on the make, Herculaneum seems to be more upper class and relaxed. It also suffered a different fate. Whereas Pompeii was buried under 40 metres of small light pebbles of pumice which suffocated anyone left behind, Herculaneum suffered a pyroclastic flow of superheated ash around 400c that killed anyone instantly. The ash then hardened to concrete but the buildings didn't collapse so the houses still have upper floors and preserved charred wood.

The excavated area is much smaller than Pompeii so we were able to visit most of the open buildings:

House of the wooden screen
Central baths, women's section
House of Neptune
Grocery store with mezzanine and wine racks
Workshop of the metal worker
Arches to forum
College of the Augustales
Central baths, men's section
Grand tavern
House of the telephon
Sacred area
Ancient beach with skeletons of fugitive
House of the stags
House of the artist
House of the black saloon
Samnite house
House of the bronze herm
House of the mosaic atrium and undulating floor
House of the tuscan colonnade
Boat museum
Antequarium/ museum.

Second was a very large seaside villa in Oplontis that is still being excavated. It has a very large swimming pool and many rooms with frescoes in the 2nd style.

Last stop was a small farmhouse where the main product was wine. It also had a lovely museum containing lots of information on daily life including burnt remains of food and drink that has been analysed and identified. It also has on display the bridal carriage recently excavated and restored as seen on a BBC programme.Read more