Herculaneum
According to legend, Herculaneum was founded by the Greek hero Hercules. By the 1st century BC, the town was a popular seaside resort with large villas. When Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD the city was buried under 65 ft (20 meters) of volcanic rock. Harder to dig out than Pompeii, a lot of the city is still unexcavated, but the ruins of Herculaneum preserve details such as wooden furniture, shops with intact containers, and two story buildings.
Decumanus Maximus, the main street of Herculaneum, was the forum, heart of commercial, political and religious life. The city had a huge big sports complex (palestra), two public baths for men and women, spacious houses, shops, water fountains, and lots of snack bars (thermopolia).
Tip: Taking the Circumvesuviano train to Herculaneum, the stop is Ercolano. Walk west down the hill four or five blocks. Go through the archway labeled Herculaneum to the ticket office.
Exploring the ruins -
Two walkways into the ruins begin at a promontory looking down into Herculaneum. Where you stand, used to be the ocean, below was an ancient beach and the harbor. Start your explorations by walking down the stairs to the bottom of the ruins. We begin here with barrel vaults, labeled #1 on the map that comes with your ticket.
Barrel vaults - Located on the harbor, the arched vaults were used as warehouses and boat houses. Inside the vaults 300 skeletons were discovered, people trying to flee Herculaneum, who took shelter here, but were overcome by high temperatures from the volcano. Some of the skeletons are still visible.
Sacred area - Sacellum of the Four Gods - The terrace to the left had two temples, one dedicated to Venus, the other to four gods Vulcan, Neptune, Mercury, and Minerva. Left to right, the four reliefs are Vulcan (god of fire and metalworking) holds a long hammer, Neptune (patron of seafarers) has a trident, Mercury (protector of merchants and journeys) holds the staff with two snakes, Minerva (goddess of war, craft and trade) has a spear and helmet.
Terrace of M. Nonius Balbus and Suburban Baths - On the right terrace, in the center is a large funerary altar, dedicated to M. Nonius Balbus, a rich patron and resident who built many public buildings in the city.
Also, here are the biggest and splashiest public baths in Herculaneum. Beautifully preserved with large frigidarium, tepidarium, and caldarium rooms, steam bath, lavishly decorated with colored marble and mosaic floors, paintings on the walls.
Continue walking up the street Cardo V, until you reach an intersection, Cardo V and Decumanus Inferior.
Palestra - Check out the remains of a huge sports complex, built 2000 years ago, much of which is still buried. In the middle of the grassy area was a big swimming pool (not visible) with a bronze serpent fountain, at the back were rooms used for ceremonies and an upper loggia for officials and guests to watch the athletic games.
Large Taberna - This snack bar (thermopolium) served hot food and drinks for a quick lunch or grab n' go. The thermopolium has spiffy marble counters with embedded pottery containers (dolia), and shelves for holding serving containers.
House of the Large Portal - Walk down Decumanus Inferior a short distance, you can't miss the entryway to this house, with a columned brick doorway and white capital with winged victory figure. Inside are is a lovely painting of a bird eating cherries.
Women's baths - The women's baths have beautifully preserved black and white mosaics. In the changing room is a lively marine-themed mosaic with the sea god Triton, an octopus, dolphins, fish. In the tepidarium (warm room), check out the geometric floor mosaic and shelves for large towels. The caldarium (hot room) has two large red and white marble benches, and a modern looking "hot tub." Look at the feet of the white bench - it has toes!
Behind the baths is a large grassy rectangle - this was an open air palestra, exercise area.
Shop (Bottega 30) - The shop adjoining the House of Neptune and Amphitrite is a "must see." Step into a wine and cereals shop, with an upper story and wooden racks to hold wine amphoras. When the shop was excavated, on the counter were containers that held beans and chickpeas, another big red pottery amphora was full of cereal, the wine amphoras were left as they were when Mt. Vesuvius erupted.
House of Neptune & Amphitrite - The outdoor summer dining area is decorated with colorful mosaics. On one wall is a grotto, and blue and gold hunting scene with deer and dogs, garlands of fruit and flowers, and peacocks. On another wall is Neptune and his wife Amphitrite in brilliant red, gold and blue, the mosaic is surrounded with seashells.
Cucumas Shop - In front of this wine shop is a painting of four pitchers of wine, below each jug is the price for different quantities of wine. Above the wine pitchers is a painting of a bearded man, wearing a toga and holding a flat dish and staff. (This figure may be the god Semo Sancus, a reference to keeping business promises).
Hall of the Augustales - This large scale building was constructed during the reign of Augustus (27 BC - 14AD). It's thought to be the meeting place of the Augustales, a group of wealthy freedmen (onetime slaves, freed by their masters, who now ran successful businesses). On the entrance is a large marble plaque, with the names of the two donors who paid for the building.
The central area has paintings on the walls. On the left is a scene of nicely tanned Hercules, entering Olympus with the goddesses Juno and Minerva (wearing a helmet). On the right is a painting of Hercules fighting the Greek river god Achelous, at the top are two winged charioteers, racing their horses. Check out the floor with inlaid colored marble design.
Water fountains - On the streets you'll see big rectangular public water fountains (water was provided by an aqueduct). Private houses used wells, and cisterns for collecting rain water.
Villa Papyri - The most noted Herculaneum residence, Villa Papyri, was the home of a very wealthy family, with an extensive collection of bronze and marble statues. The Villa Papyri is not open to the public, but its magnificent sculptures are on display at the Naples Archaeological Museum.
