Herculaneum once called Heracleia
The town once called Heracleia, as according to the legend it was founded by Hercules himself, was covered the same time as Pompeii after the explosion of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Unlike Pompeii, Herculaneum was covered by a river of burning mud which solidified up to 16 meters of height preserving the town in an astonishing way. The originality of Herculaneum is in the fact that organic remains such as vegetables, clothes, wooden structures of houses and shops have been preserved up to now. Buildings still show the second and third floors giving an idea of their techniques of construction and the size of their houses and villas.
Although the town has not been fully excavated and some of the ancient buildings are still outside the archeological area like the Villa of the Papyruses and the Theatre, tourists can still dive into the past by visiting the House of Neptune and Amphitrite, The House of the Genius, The House of the Carbonized Partition, the Thermopolia -the ancient fast food-, the Bath House, shops and the Palestra to have a clear idea of life twenty centuries ago.
