NAPLES, ITALY –

HERCULANEUM

(VESUVIUS’S LESSER KNOWN “VICTIM”)

Monday, April 21, 2025, 6 AM, Temperature 57 Degrees, 77% Humidity, W – NE 5.7 mph

It was a beautiful day with the sun rising over Mount Vesuvius when we pulled into Naples, then a shadow fell over Zuiderdam! The MSC World Europa cruise ship had pulled into the berth next to us. Europa is MSC’s largest ship and the sixth-largest cruise ship in the world. It has a capacity of 6,762 passengers and 2,138 crew. Enormous – would never want to sail on a ship that large. John used to say he’d been on aircraft carriers that large when cruise ship capacity was 5,000; the Europa was twice as large!

Naples began as a settlement called Parthenope when it was founded by the Greeks in the 8th century BCE. In the 6th century BCE, the Greeks renamed it Neapolis, “New City. It is one of the oldest urban areas inhabited in the world. Naples is currently the third largest city in Italy, with a “city” population of 909,048 as of 2022 and a province population of 3,115,320.

Although we were visiting the site of the Herculaneum excavations and viewing the results of the famous 79 AD eruption, Vesuvius is still very much on the minds of modern Naples. Volcanologists predict there could be a new eruption in the next 12 – 15 years. The most recent eruption was in 1944. Naples has a Three Zone Evacuation Plan Red/Yellow/Green), updated in March 2024. The Red Zone contains 25 municipalities closest to Vesuvius and is expected to experience pyroclastic flows like Herculaneum, unlike Pompeii, which was further away and exposed to volcanic ash. This would be an area of mandatory evacuation. Although there would be a “warning period”, when the Evacuation Order is given, those in the Red Zone would have 24 hours to vacate. It is estimated that the evacuation of the Red Zone would take approximately three days (72 hours). Our Guide said some people would move into the safety of the Naples Green Zone; others would be transported to the Harbor to be evacuated by sea (that plan sounds a little unrealistic to us). The Yellow Zone (an additional 63 municipalities) is an area expected to be impacted by volcanic ash. The city “practices” its Evacuation Plan every 5-6 years.

No Excursion is complete without a shopping opportunity (or two)! Our first stop was the Palazzo del Corallo where we saw a demonstration on how they carve cameo from shells. John bought me a pretty round cameo with a flower design. They also had a bathroom available – WIN/WIN.

John visited the ruins at Pompeii 52 years ago, so we chose to visit Herculaneum for comparison. John still talks about the “racy” and explicit mosaics he saw in Pompeii! Back then, those mosaics were restricted; John and his group had a private viewing (I guess the Guide felt Navy men would enjoy them!). Pompeii was a port town, and visiting sailors spoke many different languages. Words were unnecessary with the mosaics; a sailor could point to the services he desired. Now, those mosaics are open to the general public!

There were two major phases in the eruption of Vesuvius. The first phase sent volcanic ash, gas, and rock into the sky. Because of the wind to the southeast, Herculaneum survived this stage; most of the debris was blown towards Pompeii and covered that city. Some people from Herculaneum were able to escape before pyroclastics covered the city. Herculaneum was ultimately covered by 5 times the amount of material as Pompeii. Although Pompeii was discovered in 1599 by architect Domenico Fontana, he covered up the remains, perhaps shocked by the same racy mosaics John had seen! Pompeii was “rediscovered” in 1748 and has been excavated ever since. Herculaneum was uncovered in 1709, but excavation didn’t begin for almost 100 years. Excavating in Herculean was much more difficult than in Pompeii. Modern excavations in Herculaneum have been sponsored by Italian authorities and American supporters – Getty and, more recently, the Packard Humanities Institute (Hewlett-Packard).

John said Pompeii was in a large, open area (or it was 50+ years ago). The city surrounds Herculaneum; photos of the excavations are apt to show clothes hanging on the balconies of surrounding apartments! The Guide said there is much more to Herculaneum than has been excavated, but authorities are not allowed to “confiscate” existing structures/homes, so expansion is at a standstill.

Herculaneum was a much smaller city than Pompeii, primarily a beach resort and retirement community. It is laid out on the grid pattern common to all Roman cities and which is still a model for modern cities. The Guide indicated some homes had second-story rooms, which were sometimes used for summer vacation rentals or for housing slaves. The streets are not as wide as Pompeii's because there was less commerce. We visited several homes with mosaic floors intact and partial wall frescos still visible. Guests would enter the house through an atrium and go to a central reception room. A hole in the ceiling would allow rainwater to enter and fill a small pool in the room where guests would lounge and be served refreshments from the adjacent table. Houses also contained a kitchen, dining room (often opening to a garden), bedrooms and a bathroom (with a hole in the floor not unlike one we saw in the women’s bathroom in Indonesia.) The houses had running water through lead pipes, but unfortunately the average Hurculanian only lived to 40 years of age due lead poisoning from the pipes. We visited separate bath houses for men and women. The men’s bath was larger, but both had cold, warm, and hot rooms for bathing and socializing. A major earthquake struck Herculaneum in AD 62, a few years before the 79 AD eruption. One of the mosaic floors we saw was buckled due to this quake. The most tragic area we visited was a series of arched rooms under the main city. These would have been boathouses with access to the sea. There are skeletons of all ages. These were not preserved like those at Pompeii, but the victims were incinerated by pyroclastic flow. The Guide said perhaps they were attempting to escape by boat but were pushed back by the Tsunami caused by the earthquake that followed the eruption. Instead of the waters of the Bay of Naples, these boathouses now face a 40’ tall wall of lava stone.

We visited on Easter Monday, a day of celebration in this Catholic/Christian city. It is traditionally the day after the resurrection of Christ. It’s a holiday, with many people off work. While we were touring the ancient ruins, we could frequently hear firecrackers and the music of parades. Returning to the ship, we saw a glimpse of a parade and floats in downtown Naples. While we were touring, our Guide announced the passing of Pope Francis. How special that he would have one last Easter to bless the crowd, ride in the Popemobile, and kiss a few more babies! It is as if it were planned!