62. A Visit to Naples

We have swapped the depressing mess of Greece (with exceptions) for the equally depressing  mess of Naples (also with exceptions) and found ourselves at a lovely hotel in an old 19th Century mansion in the heart of Ercole, at the foot of Mt. Vesuvius, and 200 metres from the archeological site of Herculaneum. So, blessed with these lovely surroundings ... ... we strung up a washing line in the bathroom and over the next three days, hand scrubbed our shorts and t-shirts ready for the next phase of our holiday - Italy. It was 38 degrees for each of the three days we were in Naples, not great weather for scrambling over Roman roads and through 2,000 year old buildings, but we had a lovely pool to come back to and the food had improved greatly. The hotel was huge, an old mansion from the days of opulence, and is the venue for many weddings. There were fabulous flower arrangements everywhere.  All artificial, but very well done.  So, having pampered ourselves here for a day ....... ... it was time to rediscover the ancient Roman city of Herculaneum, buried by the volcano Vesuvius in 79AD, here on the Bay of Naples. The main gate is two hundred metres down this road on the left - just before the cream building with the red roof. This was our first view of the excavated city as we walked down the entry ramp.  You can see modern day Naples at the rear on the highest level. On the lower level, where the people are standing on the boardwalk, is a row of arched boathouses.  This was the beach of ancient Herculaneum.  The volcano covered this area with 20 metres of fiery hot rock and ash and moved the coastline forward about 100 metres. In this photo, taken from our hotel window, we estimate the the Herculaneum beach was about on the far side of the dingy green two storey building at the rear left of the disused trellised garden.   And you can see where the beachfront is today. So all of the area we are looking at is volcanic rock and ash.  And as only 4 hectares of the 20  hectares of Herculaneum has been excavated, it is quite possible that more remains of the ancient city are underneath some of this 'view'. Herculaneum Part 2 follows.