The archaeological excavations of Pompeii are slowly bringing to light an ancient city that has seen its premature end due to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79. Along with the excavations of Herculaneum, have been declared by UNESCO World Heritage"
The interest of tourists to the excavations of Pompeii are enormous, according to the Touring Club in 2008, the archaeological site was visited by 2,253,633 people.
The start of the excavations to unearth the ancient Pompeii was given by Charles III of Bourbon in 1748, although erratically, went more smoothly at the beginning of the nineteenth century and reached the maximum of the systematic and scientific operations with the coming of the Kingdom of Italy under the direction of Giuseppe Fiorelli.
Pompeii today thanks to all this hard work over the centuries, appears in almost all its extension, allowing all history buffs to visit this ancient city. Similar and the sad fate had the city of Herculaneum, which saw its end by the same explosion that sealed the fate of Pompeii. Although this archaeological site in 2008 was visited by 264,036 people.
Herculaneum was buried quickly by a huge mass of debris and mud, creating a solid and compact layer of several meters. Because of this, the excavations were not easy, but at the same time, this huge solid mass has allowed a better preservation of perishable materials, keeping them intact to this day.
Its discovery, quite by chance, was made by the Duke of Elboeuf in the eighteenth century, which continued the exploration of a monument discovered during the excavation of a pit by the friars Alcantarini, finding statues, marble columns and bronze. Subsequently, this archaeological site was carried out under the patronage of Charles III Bourbon, up to today in all its splendor.