Archaeological Park of Pompeii

The Archaeological Park of Pompeii covers sixty-six hectares of stone-paved streets, villas, and public forums that sit exactly as they were when Mount Vesuvius erupted in seventy-nine AD. Unlike many ancient sites that have been weathered by time, this city was sealed under meters of volcanic ash, which preserved the vivid colors of frescoes, the structure of homes, and the layout of a Roman city for nearly seventeen hundred years before systematic excavations began in seventeen forty-eight.