[ad_1]
What happened?
Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79. C., burying the cities of Pompeii, Oplontis and Stabiae under ashes and fragments of rocks, and the city of Herculaneum under a mud flow.
Mount Vesuvius, on the west coast of Italy, is the only active volcano in continental Europe and is believed to be one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world.
All residents died instantly when the southern Italian city was hit by a 500 ° C pyroclastic heat wave.
Pyroclastic flows are a dense collection of hot gas and volcanic materials that flow down the side of an erupting volcano at high speed.
They are more dangerous than lava because they travel faster, at speeds of around 450 mph (700 km / h) and at temperatures of 1,000 ° C.
An administrator and poet named Pliny the Younger saw disaster unfold from a distance.
Letters describing what he saw were found in the 16th century.
His writing suggests that the eruption surprised residents of Pompeii.
Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79. C., burying the cities of Pompeii, Oplontis and Stabiae under ashes and rock fragments, and the city of Herculaneum under a mud flow
He said that a plume of smoke ‘like an umbrella pine’ rose from the volcano and made the cities around it as black as night.
People ran for their lives with torches, screams and some cried as the ash and pumice rain fell for several hours.
Although the eruption lasted around 24 hours, the first pyroclastic waves started at midnight, causing the collapse of the volcano column.
An avalanche of hot ashes, rocks, and poisonous gases rushed down the side of the volcano at 124 mph (199 km / h), burying victims and the remnants of everyday life.
Hundreds of refugees taking refuge in the arched arcades on the Herculaneum coast, grabbing their jewelry and money, were instantly killed.
The Orto dei fuggiaschi (The Garden of the Fugitives) shows the 13 bodies of victims who were buried by ashes while trying to flee Pompeii during the eruption of Vesuvius volcano in 79 AD.
When people fled Pompeii or hid in their homes, their bodies were covered by the swell blankets.
While Pliny did not calculate how many people died, the event was said to be “exceptional” and the number of deaths is believed to exceed 10,000.
What have they found?
This event ended the life of cities, but at the same time preserved them until archaeologists rediscovered almost 1700 years later.
The excavation of Pompeii, the industrial center of the region, and Herculaneum, a small beach resort, has given an unparalleled insight into Roman life.
Archaeologists are continually discovering more of the ash-covered city.
In May, archaeologists discovered an alley of large houses, with balconies practically intact and still in their original shades.
A plaster cast of a dog, from the House of Orpheus, Pompeii, AD 79. C. It is believed that around 30,000 people died in the chaos, with bodies still discovered to this day.
Some of the balconies even had amphorae, the conical terracotta vases that were used to hold wine and oil in ancient Roman times.
The discovery has been hailed as a “complete novelty”, and the Italian Ministry of Culture hopes that they can be restored and opened to the public.
Rare tents have rarely been found among the ruins of the ancient city, which was destroyed by an eruption of Vesuvius volcano and buried under up to six meters of ash and volcanic debris.
About 30,000 people are believed to have died in the chaos, with bodies still discovered to this day.
