NAPOLI, or NAPLES
calmly sits a few miles away from the foot of Mt. Vesuvius.
It is the capital of the province of Campania, third largest city in Italy after Rome and Milan, and hosts the largest port in Italy. Naples lies between Vesuvius and the Phlegrean Fields, and wraps itself around the
Bay of Naples.
It has a mild and constant climate, is a very important industrial and trading center...
and it has this humongous volcano as its next door neighbor.

Vesuvius has had some pretty cranky days in the last two thousand years, erupting about three dozen times since 79 A.D.. The most recent eruption was in 1913-1944, spanning both World Wars. Sometimes these things just go on and on and on... which makes them less of a surprise, which is a good thing.

The 1913-1944 eruption is generally believed to be the end of the eruptive cycle that began in 1631. Over a million Italians live in Naples every day... about three million in the area that could be affected by Vesuvius. They certainly do not expect the mountain to erupt without warning.
The modern science of vulcanology is constantly on guard, testing with lasers and seismographs to warn them before anything dangerous occurs.

Many Italians obviously think living around Vesuvius is a wise decision.

Pliny the Younger was of the same mind in 79 A.D., when he stayed about 18 miles west of Vesuvius, at Misenum, about where Naples is today. There he witnessed the eruption that covered the land on the other side of the volcano with ash. His uncle, Pliny the Elder, sailed in a ship toward the erupting volcano in an attempt at rescuing some of his friends who had sent a note asking for his aid. He was not successful.

From his vantage point on land, the surviving Pliny saw the spectacle and later wrote two letters about it to a friend. He tells us of the earthquakes before the eruption, the column of smoke as the volcano erupted, the pyroclastic flow (which obviously did not come on the Naples side where he was) and the relatively small tsunami that was generated in Naples bay.

From his writings, we think the column of ash was 20 miles tall, and dumped about a cubic mile of material from the mountain on the surrounding countryside. The first rain of volcanic particles to arrive at Pompeii was an outpouring of pumice about half an inch in diameter that slowly covered everything to a depth of about 8 feet. At this point, most of the 20,000 citizens of Pompeii had either fled or were in the process of fleeing.

The next morning, there was a violent pyroclastic flow, and about 10 feet of fine ash enshrouded Pompeii, quickly covering all the buldings up to the tallest roofs, as well as the 2,000 or so people who had for some reason stayed behind.

Afterward, the city was abandoned. Over the centuries, people forgot there had ever been a town there. Then, about 400 years ago, artifacts of Pompeii were discovered, and centuries of 'informal archeology', or 'looting' followed.

Formal digging began about 1850, and by now much of Pompeii has been excavated. Archeologists have uncovered, literally, a great deal about how people lived and died in that long-ago time.

It is one of the most important archeological digs of history, because of the complete preservation of much of the lifestyle of the people.

It is also one of the most interesting, because you can see whole buildings, whole systems. Like the stones that diverted the water three ways... to the rich, to the baths and to the fields.

In time of drought, the water to the rich was the first to dry up, the water to the public baths second, and the crops last.

From all the things that are still standing, you can get a real feeling for the way people lived their everyday lives.
Along with the typical Roman columns and archs, there are bakeries and baths and everyday houses.
Some walls still have their original paint.

It is certainly worth the trip.
Admission is about 6 dollars US.
Plan for as full a day as you can allow. There is very much to see at Pompeii... and Naples nightlife is worth a full evening, too.

Now you can either sample the sights of Venice, or check out

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