26th-27th August, 2024

Excursion: The volcano and the shores of Italy. Herculaneum, Pompeii, Vesuvius, Nola,
Cumae
360 €

The excursion joins together the most famous sites stuck by the eruptions of the Vesuvius, the now-
sleeping volcano, both in the Early Bronze (Nola) and the Imperial Roman Age (Herculaneum and
Pompeii), with the visit to the site where the Greek colonists first landed on Italy (Cumae), in the
volcanic Phlegraean fields and in front of the wonderful Tyrrhenian seaside.
The impressive preservation of the sites destroyed by the “Avellino” eruption (ca. 1900 BCE: Nola
Bronze Age site) and by the Pompeii eruption (79 CE: Roman Imperial Herculaneum and Pompeii)
gives to the archaeologists an extraordinary glance into the ancient communities’ life, and into their
response to natural disasters. The archaeological concept of “Pompeii premise” is just a reflection
of the fame of the contexts.
At Cumae, the monumental architecture of the underground tunnel access to the site, as well as of
the so-called Sybil’s cave (indeed a massive substructure corridor), the dominant location of the
temples and the scenic view of Tyrrhenian Sea, with the Phlegraean islands in background and the
drowning of the sun at sunset, release a strong feeling of the meaningful relation between site and
landscape.

The tour includes:

1st day – Bus transfer from Rome Sapienza (main entrance - Piazzale A.Moro, 5: start at 8:15) to
Herculaneum, with visit; transfer to Pompeii and lunch; visit to Pompeii; dinner and hotel in
Pompeii.
2nd day – Bus transfer to the Vesuvius cone, with visit; transfer to Nola and visit to the Museum;
lunch; transfer to Cumae and visit; return to Rome by 21:00.
The fee includes: Tour leader, English-speaking guide, local guides, bus transfer, ticket fees, 2
lunches, 1 dinner, 1 night in Hotel.

The Direction of the archaeological parks has guaranteed to give a special presentation to some
ongoing research in the sites.

WARNING: The excursion will face a hot late August climate: it is recommended to use strong
sunscreen cream and to wear comfortable dress and shoes (tracks and roman roads are not even!);
also a hat or head scarf is suggested, and sunglasses. Drink water abundantly, have lighter meals at
lunch.

Archaeological hints and links.

Herculaneum: a long-established Greek and Italic town, which the Romans finally conquered from
the Samnites in 290 BCE, and finally Roman Municipium (autonomous municipality) in 89 BCE. It
was a lively center, with a harbour at sea, surrounded by villas exploiting the landscape as well as
used for leisure by the rich Roman aristocracy. The earthquake in 62 CE stroke the town at its
flourishing peak, inducing repair works, only partially completed at the time of the 79 CE eruption,
when intense pyroclastic flows suddenly impacted on the site, immediately killing the people trying
to leave.
The location of the site, deep in a wide hole dug into the eruptive products and exactly below the
modern crowded city, immediately shows the massiveness of the eruptive impact; the theatre,
accessed underground and below the modern city, is an evocative testimony of the magnitude of the
event.
The urban texture is perfectly felt in the regular network of streets, flanked by abundant shops and
workshops, and food and drink facilities, with the wall graffiti recalling the ongoing life of the
community.
The terraces adjoining the former harbour give a special glance at the disaster, with the precise
relocation of the casts of the skeletons of the people who had crowded the arches on the shore,
waiting for boats and safety. Their sex and age structure and the analyses of their diet gave
extremely significant data about the composition of the settlers remaining in the town at the
moment of the eruption and their former habits and status.
Web link of the Archaeological Park (in Italian): https://ercolano.beniculturali.it/
Web link with some English presentations from the ticketing website (NO TICKET TO BE
DONE BY PARTICIPANTS): https://www.coopculture.it/en/poi/archaeological-park-of-
herculaneum/

Pompeii: like Herculaneum, Pompeii was an important pre-Roman city, eventually a Samnite
center with alternating relations with Rome, whose final conquest took place in 89 BCE. The city is
located on the top of a hill, a former lavic flow from the Vesuvius, dominating the river Sarno
mouth and the coast from some distance. Traces of settlement are evident since at least the Early
Bronze Age. It is bordered by a completely preserved wall circuit with gates, the remnants in the
Imperial Age of the pre-Roman phase of wars and power changes, still functioning as physical
containment of the city. The northern road toward Herculaneum, flanked by tombs and workshops,
and leads to the gorgeous suburban Villa dei Misteri, with some of the most beautiful frescoes of
the Roman Age: the path gives a precise idea of the transforming outskirts of a rich Early Imperial
Campanian town.
The urban structure is much different from Herculaneum, encompassing other major public
buildings, such as the forum, the amphitheatre, the gymnasium, and a more complex texture of
roads and buildings, with luxury houses with luscious gardens and representative rooms with the
famous paintings. Pompeii was much in vogue among the Roman élite, as a pleasant location in a
favourable and fertile land.
The earthquake of 62 CE, close as epicentre, induced heavy restoration activities, many of which
were ongoing at the moment of the final destruction of 79 CE. At Pompeii a more intense fall of
pumice than in Herculaneum preceded the pyroclastic surge, and the effect on living beings was
different, e.g. allowing the bodies to be preserved as hollow casts in the volcanic deposits, and not
being burnt out at very high temperature. The study of the volcanic sequences at Pompeii and
Herculaneum was particularly important in volcanology, and studies of the 79 CE eruption have
been crucial since 1980ies in order to understand more globally the behaviour of phreato-magmatic
eruptions.
Since 2011, the Great Pompeii restoration project has brought to a renewed wave of excavations
and conservation activities, which are enhancing building preservation and quality of the site
maintenance, and brought to significant new studies from the building interpretation, to the material
culture and furniture, to paintings and gardening, and obviously to improved knowledge of the
hectic phases of abandonment, together with the new insights in the eruptive process. A view of
Pompeii today is something definitely different from only 20 years ago.
Web link of the Archaeological Park (in English): https://pompeiisites.org/en/

Vesuvius: The cone of the Vesuvius (ca. 1.200 m asl) is located inside a natural park; the access
procedures are still under check for the visit. The view of the Campanian coast and plain is
impressive, with silence and sun surrounding the height, even in overcrowded Campania.
Web link of the Archaeological Park (in Italian): https://www.parconazionaledelvesuvio.it/
Nola: the modern city of Nola has grown above the ancient Ausonian, Samnite and Roman center,
but the most important and famous context revealed by rescue excavations has been the Early
Bronze Age huts fully preserved by the so-called “Avellino” eruption from the Vesuvius, dated ca.
1900 BCE. The huts are unfortunately no more visible, but the local museum has an impressive
collection of the archaeological materials found inside them and an approximate reconstruction of
the major hut in the exhibition room. The combination of “Avellino” pumice fall deposits and
pyroclastic flows brought to the preservation of the traces of the thatched roof, as well as of the
suspended position of pots inside the hut. A group of pregnant goats found in a cage, killed by the
eruption, has so far given the most credited 14C date for the event; a poor dog was also found close
to the entrance, while humans and major animals had flown. The eruption left an impressive
evidence of the villages and of the agrarian network of the Campanian Plain, allowing for some of
the best reconstructions for a Bronze Age landscape in Europe.
Web link of the Archaeological Park (in Italian):
http://musei.beniculturali.it/musei?mid=113&nome=museo-storico-archeologico-di-nola

Cumae: the site of the first Greek colonial settlement registered by the Greek sources (around 730
BCE) was already occupied by local Italic populations; the Greeks and Oriental merchants had
formerly settled in the fronting island of Ischia (named Pithekoussai), from where they developed
intense relations with the Italian Tyrrhenian communities, maintaining strong links with the whole
Mediterranean. As for its foundation, with a quick turn in material culture from the Italic to the
Greek one, as dominant character, Cumae has been a milestone in the study of central
Mediterranean chronology, and it is still giving impressive results through renewed excavations. Its
position of northernmost Greek settlement in Southern Italy drew it in a complex web of contrastive
relations with Etruscans and Samnites; after the Roman conquest, it became a lavish center. Its
dominant location is reflected in the post-Roman importance it gained as a fortress, to be finally
abandoned after 1207 CE.
The fame of Cumae is related to the Aeneid, the poem written by Virgil to celebrate the birth of the
lineage of Augustus, founder of the Roman Empire, as deriving from Aeneas quitting Troy at its
destruction. The Sybil’s oracle is located here, from where Aeneas descends to the Underworld,
located under the volcanic Phlegraean Fields, still active today, as visible by earthquake swarms
affecting Pozzuoli.
The massive monuments in Cumae (so-called Sybil’s cave, temple terraces), and its wonderful view
over a stretch of seaside (incredibly) preserved in oversettled and overbuilt Campania, give the
visitor an impressive imagine of the Italian multi-factorial beauty, and reflect the spirit of the
travellers of 18th-19th century.
Web link of the Archaeological Park (in Italian): https://pafleg.cultura.gov.it/it/4382/cuma

Indicative time schedule:

August 26th, 2024, monday
Meeting at Piazzale Aldo Moro
(Sapienza University main
08:00 entrance)
08:15 Bus departure
Travel with 1 stop
Herculaneum Archaeological
10:45 Park
Visit (2h 30')
13:15 Grouping
13:45 Restaurant Le Gare (Pompeii)
Lunch
 15:15 Grouping
15:30 Pompeii Archaeological Park
Visit (3h 30')
19:00 Grouping
19:15 Hotel Maiuri
20:30 Ravida Restaurant
dinner
August 27th,
2024, tuesday
08:00 Grouping
08:15 Departure
08:45 Parking Vesuvio
09:00 Vesuvius cone entrance
Visit
10:30 Grouping
11:00 Departure
12:00 Nola Archaeological Museum
Visit (1h)
13:00 Grouping
13:15 Lunch
14:45 Departure
Arrival to Cuma Archaeological
16:00 park
Visit (2h 30’)
18:30 Departure from Cuma
21:00 Arrival Piazzale Aldo Moro