Pompeii
Before and after the eruption
The archaeological excavations of Pompei have brought back to life the remains of the ancient city of Pompei, buried under a blanket of ash and lapilli during the eruption of theVesuviusVulcan in 79 A.D., along with Herculaneum, Stabiae and Oplontis. The site of Pompei, which in the first decade of the new millennium has been constantly visited by over two million people a year, has been declared in 2013 the second Italian site in terms of number of visitors. The excavations, which began at the behest of Charles III of Borbone, are one of the best vestiges of Roman life.