Herculaneum / Ercolano archeological site

Herculaneum also known as Ercolano is like Pompeii but smaller. They were both covered by the debris from the 79AD Mt Vesuvius eruption. Herculaneum was covered by mud which is different then Pompeii because that means that organic matter was preserved. Like the bodies of the victims, boats, they even found jars of canned fruits, and flour for bread. While Pompeii nothing organic was preserved. Herculaneum was a smaller Roman town and was more wealthy than Pompeii, it was right on the beach and they had ornate marble and more colorful walls. 

We had a heck of a time getting to the site. Once you get in the general area I would recommend following the signs for Ercolano Scavi and not your GPS. Because we had a heck of a time figuring out where we were suppose to be. We knew we were close, so we ended up parking and saw other people with backpacks that looked confused so we asked them and finally realized we had to go up the hill down a different road. So we walked down a little ally way that was filled with garbage but we made it. I really wish we would have followed the signs though because we probably walked a mile more than we needed to because there was good parking right at the entrance to the site. Lessoned learned, if/ when I ever go back. 

I really liked Herculaneum because it is a lot smaller than Pompeii so you get to walk around the whole grounds and not feel over whelmed or like you are missing out on a bunch of stuff. When you first enter there is also a really cool view of the whole site from above. They are still currently excavating and some of the modern town was just built right over the old town without even knowing so they don't know if they will ever get the whole thing uncovered. 

I think my favorite part was the nearly 30 full skeletons. They found them in the boat houses trying to get there boats out into the water before the boiling mud came but unfortunately they didn't make it. The skeletons are really well preserved and you can tell that they are still being dug out little by little. It is also very sad to think about what these people went through and it is a pleasure to get to see an amazing part of history. It was definitely one of my favorite sites that we have visited here in Italy. 
love, Carlee

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