What happened?
Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, burying the cities of Pompeii, Oplontis, and Stabiae under ash and rock debris, and the city of Herculaneum under a mudflow.
Mount Vesuvius on the west coast of Italy is the only active volcano in continental Europe and is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world.
Every resident died instantly when a 500°C pyroclastic tide hit a city in southern Italy.
Pyroclastic flows are dense accumulations of hot gas and volcanic materials that flow at high speed down the slope of an erupting volcano.
They are more dangerous than lava because they move faster, at about 450 miles per hour (700 km/h) and at 1000°C.
An administrator and poet named Pliny the Younger watched the unfolding disaster from afar.
Letters describing what they saw were found in the 16th century.
His letter suggests that the eruption caught the inhabitants of Pompeii by surprise.
Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, burying the cities of Pompeii, Oplontis, and Stabiae under ash and rock debris, and the city of Herculaneum under a mudflow.
He said that a column of smoke rose from the volcano “like an umbrella pine” and the cities around it turned black as night.
People fled with torches, screaming and some crying as it rained ash and pumice for hours.
Although the eruption lasted about 24 hours, the first pyroclastic ejections began at midnight, causing the volcano’s column to collapse.
An avalanche of hot ash, rocks and poisonous gas surged down the side of the volcano at 124 miles per hour (199 km/h), burying the victims and remnants of daily life.
Hundreds of refugees hiding in the vaulted arcades on the seashore at Herculaneum, clutching their jewels and money, were killed instantly.
The Orto dei fuggiaschi (Garden of the Fugitives) shows 13 bodies of victims who were buried under ash as they tried to flee Pompeii during the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
When people fled from Pompeii or hid in their homes, their bodies were covered with wave blankets.
Although Pliny did not calculate how many people died, the event has been called “exceptional” and the death toll is thought to be in excess of 10,000.
What did they find?
This event ended the life of cities, but at the same time preserved them until they were rediscovered by archaeologists almost 1700 years later.
The excavations of Pompeii, the industrial center of the region, and Herculaneum, a small seaside resort, have provided an unprecedented insight into Roman life.
Archaeologists are constantly finding something new in the ash-covered city.
In May, archaeologists unearthed a lane of stately homes with balconies largely intact and retaining their original color.
Plaster cast of a dog from the House of Orpheus, Pompeii, AD 79. Some 30,000 people are believed to have died in the chaos, and bodies are still being found to this day.
Some of the balconies even had amphoras, conical terracotta vases that were used in ancient Roman times to store wine and oil.
The discovery was hailed as a “complete novelty” and the Italian Ministry of Culture hopes they can be restored and opened to the public.
Among the ruins of the ancient city, destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and buried under six meters of ash and volcanic debris, one can rarely find upper warehouses.
Some 30,000 people are believed to have died in the chaos, and bodies are still being found to this day.