Naples and surroundings and next Events

THE EXCAVATIONS AND THE VESUVIUS

Vesuvius is a volcano on the coast of the Bay of Naples, about nine kilometres (six miles) east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is conspicuous in the beautiful landscape presented by the Bay of Naples, when seen from the sea, with Naples in the foreground.

Vesuvius is best known for its eruption in AD 79 that led to the destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. It has erupted many times since and is today regarded as one of themost dangerous volcanoes in the world because of the population of 1,000,000^] people now living close to it and its tendency towards explosive eruptions.

The eruptions  vary very greatly in severity but are characterized by explosive outbursts of the kind dubbed Plinian after Pliny the Younger, the Roman naturalist who observed the 79 eruption, and whose uncle Pliny the Elder possibly fell victim. On occasion, the eruptions have been so large that the whole of southern Europe has been blanketed by ashes; in 472 and 1631, Vesuvian ashes fell on Constantinople (Istanbul), over 1,200 km away.

Since 1944, the volcano has been quiescent

Vesuvius Today

The area around Vesuvius was officially declared a national park The summit of Vesuvius is open to visitors.

There is access by road to within 200 metres of the summit (measured vertically), but thereafter access is on foot only. There is a spiral walkway around the mountain from the road to the crater.