8 Best Sights in Herculaneum (Ercolano), The Bay of Naples

Explore the ruins by the terrace of Marcus Nonius Balbus, where the town's great benefactor is buried, and the Suburban Baths (undergoing restoration). Directly below, on the onetime seafront, in the barrel arches, which were once storage for boats, 300 skeletons of escaping residents were found in 1980.

In antiquity, the Casa dei Cervi was one of the first houses that visitors to the town would have passed as they entered the city from the seaward side. As in most top-notch town residences, however, the entranceway is plain and leads into a vestibulum, a small vestibule, that opens onto an open courtyard called a peristylium. The showpiece in this particular house is the garden area, surrounded by a so-called cryptoporticus embellished with fine still-life frescoes and terminating in a partially reconstructed gazebo. Of course, prior to the eruption the house would have had a fine view over the Bay of Naples.

The ruin of this house takes its name from the mosaic in back that still sports its bright blue coloring and adorns the wall of the small, secluded nymphaeum-triclinium (a dining room with a fountain). The mosaic depicts the following scene: according to legend, in the time-honored fashion of the Olympians, Neptune (or Poseidon) saw Amphitrite dancing with the Nereids on the island of Naxos, carried her off, and married her. The adjacent wall, in similar mosaic style, has a hunting scene of a stag being pursued by a dog. Annexed to the same house is a remarkably preserved wine shop, where amphorae still rest on carbonized wooden shelves.

Lying more than 50 feet below the present-day town of Ercolano, the ruins of Herculaneum are set among the acres of greenhouses that make this area an important European flower-growing center. In AD 79, the gigantic eruption of Vesuvius, which also destroyed Pompeii, buried the town under a tide of volcanic mud. The semiliquid pyroclastic surge seeped into the crevices and niches of every building, covering household objects, enveloping textiles and wood, and sealing all in a compact, airtight tomb. Excavation began in 1738 under King Charles of Bourbon, using tunnels after a series of chance finds, most famously when in 1709 locals digging a well inadvertently discovered the city's theater. Digging was interrupted but recommenced in 1828, continuing into the following century. Today less than half of Herculaneum has been excavated. With contemporary Ercolano and the unlovely Resina Quarter sitting on top of the site, progress is limited. From the ramp leading down to Herculaneum's well-preserved edifices, you get a good overall view of the site, as well as an idea of the amount of volcanic debris that had to be removed to bring it to light. The city's grid layout consists of cardi and decumani (north-south and east-west orientated streets), which define six blocks known as insulae. 

About 5,000 people lived in Herculaneum when it was destroyed, many of them fishermen and craftsmen. Among the recent poignant discoveries of human remains was that of the blood-stained skeleton of a 40-something man found on the old beach in 2020. Experts believe he may have been trying to escape the 750°F--950°F atomic-bomb-like blast. He is clutching a small leather bag with a wooden box, from which a ring is protruding.

Although Herculaneum had only one-third the population of Pompeii and has been only partially excavated, what has been found is generally better preserved. In some cases you can even see the original wooden beams, doors, and staircases. Unfortunately, the Villa dei Papiri (Villa of Papyri) is currently closed to the public—this excavation outside the main site was built by Julius Caesar's father-in-law (with a replica built by Paul Getty in Malibu almost 2,000 years later). The building is named for almost 2,000 carbonized papyrus scrolls dug up here in the 18th century, leading scholars to believe that this may have been a study center or library. Also worth special attention are the carbonized remains within the Casa del Tramezzo di Legno (House of the Wooden Partition). Although open sporadically for a separate fee—for hard-hat and torchlit guided tour only (check the website for latest schedule)—the Teatro Antico makes for a dank and atmospheric subterranean visit, where you can explore a Roman theater and view graffiti scrawled by 19th-century grand tourists. The MAV museum, housed outside the excavations near the main entrance, uses multimedia and virtual technology to bring Roman Herculaneum and the eruption to life.    

Be sure to stock up on refreshments beforehand; there is no food at the archaeological site. At the entrance, pick up a free map showing the gridlike layout of the dig, which is divided into numbered blocks, or insulae. Splurge on an audio guide app via  www.ercolano.tours (€10; adult and children's versions): the standard audio guide (€9 for one, €14 for two) may be available for those without a smartphone. You can also join a group with a local guide (around €20 per person). Most of the houses are open, and a representative cross section of domestic, commercial, and civic buildings can be seen. Check the website for the latest openings and news of recent excavation discoveries.

The wall outside this ancient wine shop shows four jars (cucumae) of different colors and prices. Above the wine list is the god Sema Sancus, with the inscription Nola at the bottom, possibly an announcement of a gladiatorial show taking place in the town of Nola.

An outstanding example of carbonized remains is found in the Casa del Tramezzo di Legno, as it has been prosaically labeled by archaeologists. Following renovation work in the mid-1st century AD, the house was designed to have a frontage on three sides of Insula III and included a number of storerooms, shops, and second-floor habitations. This suggests that the owner was a wealthy mercator, a member of the up-and-coming merchant class which was starting to edge the patricians out of their privileged positions. The airy atrium has a lovely garden. Look closely at the impluvium (a basin to collect rainwater) and above the open compluvium roof with dog's-head spouts. You'll see the original flooring below, which was later replaced with marble, perhaps after a change of owners. Next to the impluvium is an elegant marble table, or cartibulum, while behind is the tablinum (reception room), partially screened off by a wooden partition that would also have had hooks for hanging lucernae (lamps).

No town would have been complete without its sports facilities, and Herculaneum was no exception. Just opposite the thermopolium, on Cardo V, is the entrance to the large Palaestra, where a variety of sports took place. Only a few of the peristyle columns here have been excavated, a reminder of how much of the ancient town remains buried under solidified volcanic mud.