Herculaneum

Herculaneum is a town close to Naples in Campania, located in the territory of the current city of Ercolano in the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius. It was destroyed by an eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79, the same eruption that destroyed Pompei. The vast expanse of the commercial town of Pompei contrasts with the smaller but better-preserved remains of the holiday resort of Herculaneum. Lying more than 50 feet below the present-day town of Ercolano, the ruins of Herculaneum are set among the acres of greenhouses that make this area one of Europe's principal flower-growing centers.