What happened?
Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, burying the cities of Pompeii, Oplontis and Stabiae under ash and rock fragments, and the city of Herculaneum under a mudflow.
Mount Vesuvius, on the western coast of Italy, is the only active volcano in continental Europe and is believed to be one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world.
All residents died instantly when the southern Italian city was hit by a 500°C pyroclastic heat wave.
Pyroclastic flows are a dense collection of hot gas and volcanic materials that flow down the side of an erupting volcano at high speed.
They are more dangerous than lava because they travel faster, at speeds of around 700 km/h and temperatures of 1,000°C.
An administrator and poet named Pliny the Younger watched the disaster unfold from afar.
In the 16th century letters were found describing what he saw.
His writings suggest that the eruption caught the residents of Pompeii off guard.
Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. C., burying the cities of Pompeii, Oplontis and Stabia under ashes and rock fragments, and the city of Herculaneum under a flow of mud.
He said a column of smoke “like a stone pine” rose from the volcano and caused the cities around it to turn as black as night.
People ran for their lives with torches, screaming and some cried as a rain of ash and pumice fell for several hours.
Although the eruption lasted about 24 hours, at midnight the first pyroclastic waves began, causing the collapse of the volcano’s column.
An avalanche of hot ash, rock and poisonous gas rushed down the volcano’s side at 199 kilometers per hour (124 mph), burying victims and remains of daily life.
Hundreds of refugees taking shelter in the vaulted arches on the seashore at Herculaneum, clutching their jewels and money, died instantly.
The Orto dei fuggiaschi (The Garden of the Fugitives) shows the 13 bodies of the victims who were buried under ashes when they tried to flee Pompeii during the eruption of the volcano Vesuvius in 79 AD
When people fled Pompeii or hid in their homes, their bodies were covered by blankets from the surge.
While Pliny did not estimate how many people died, the event was said to be “exceptional” and the death toll is believed to have exceeded 10,000.
What have they found?
This event ended the life of the cities but at the same time preserved them until their rediscovery by archaeologists almost 1700 years later.
Excavations at Pompeii, the region’s industrial center, and Herculaneum, a small seaside resort, have provided an unrivaled insight into Roman life.
Archaeologists continually discover more of the ash-covered city.
In May, archaeologists discovered an alley of grand houses, with balconies virtually intact and still in their original hues.
A plaster cast of a dog, from the House of Orpheus, Pompeii, 79 AD Around 30,000 people are believed to have died in the chaos, and bodies are still being discovered to this day.
Some of the balconies even had amphorae, the conical-shaped terracotta vases used to hold wine and oil in ancient Roman times.
The discovery has been hailed as a “complete novelty” and the Italian Ministry of Culture hopes they can be restored and opened to the public.
Upper warehouses have rarely been found among the ruins of the ancient city, which was destroyed by an eruption of the Vesuvius volcano and buried under up to six meters of ash and volcanic debris.
Around 30,000 people are believed to have died in the chaos and bodies continue to be discovered to this day.