Scavi di Pompei

The story

Pompeii is the Roman city that the whole world knows. Founded from the ninth century BC and flourishing as a lively centre of ancient Campania, it was buried in AD 79 by the eruption of Vesuvius under a blanket of ash and lapilli about six metres thick. Rediscovered and excavated from 1748, since 1997 it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is today the most visited archaeological site in Italy after the Colosseum, with over four million visitors a year.

What to see

A whole city stopped in time: the Forum with Vesuvius in the background, the frescoed houses such as the House of the Faun and the Villa of the Mysteries with its famous painted cycle, the baths, the temples, and the great amphitheatre, among the oldest in masonry in the Roman world. You walk along paved streets marked by the ruts of the carts, among workshops and fountains, up to the plaster casts that return the forms of the eruption's victims.

How to get there

• 🚉 Circumvesuviana

Public transport. Circumvesuviana Napoli–Sorrento, fermata Pompei Scavi–Villa dei Misteri. · fonte: EAV/Circumvesuviana

Tips

It is vast: reckon on at least half a day, comfortable shoes, water and a hat, because there is little shade. Book the ticket online to avoid the queues. It is easily reached by the Circumvesuviana (Pompei Scavi stop). To really understand what you see, combine the visit with the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, where many frescoes and finds from the excavations are kept.

Frequently asked questions