Near neighbour to Pompeii, the ruins of the Roman coastal town of Herculaneum
are situated in (under?) the modern city today known as Ercolano.

Although destroyed during the same eruption of AD 79, different forces were at work
- and the buildings and streets fared very differently; rather than being consumed by
fire they were buried by a deep layer of volcanic ash, which the rains then turned
into mud that hardened as an airtight seal some 20 metres thick in places.

A smaller site than Pompeii - with much of the town yet to be excavated from
under the streets of modern Ercolano - and in generally better condition, the
ruins are much more easily appreciated as having once been part of a living city.

In several places earlier scavenging tunnels, dug far into the deep layers of
sediment in the hope of unearthing both treasures and the papyri of libraries,
have been preserved and can be explored....

[2013 note... If planning a visit, do check whether - and when - the gorgeous
"Surburban baths" would be open, as they seem to have been off-limits for a
good while now]

(click on individual pictures for larger versions)