Importance of the Vesuvius eruption that destroyed Pompeii

It was a natural catastrophe caused by the eruption of the Vesuvius volcano, located in the Italian region of Campania, in the 1st century BC, and whose The shocking result was the complete disappearance of the city of Pompeii, a large part of Herculaneum, and the death of some five thousand people.

A volcanic eruption that swallowed an entire city

This volcano, close to the city of Naples, is one of the most dangerous in the world, and after this devastating event it continued to haunt the tranquillity of the place that today has about three million inhabitants.

Its last great activity occurred in 1944, causing astonishment due to its background, it even holds the record of being the only European volcano that presented such a violent reaction recently and came close to the historic tragedy of Pompeii by having caused the near disappearance of another city: San Sebastiano.

The several thousand inhabitants, back in the 1st century B.C., were accustomed to movements and noises linked to the activity of the mentioned volcano, but what happened on August 24, 79 B.C. It had no point of comparison with anything that happened with previously because the city and its inhabitants literally disappeared, and even neighboring places suffered unexpected fury of the

The volcanic process began with a column of smoke coming from the volcano, which gradually spread to the population.

The population died massively from the fire and the inhalation of toxic smoke

The aforementioned Pompeii and Herculaneum were affected by a combination of materials intrinsic to the volcanic activity: lava, ashes, mud, which quickly spread inside the houses causing chaos phenomenal.

They all prepared to flee but very few succeeded.

Many later photographic documents have shown us centuries later, thanks to the investigation archaeological, charred corpses of citizens in the midst of flight and the immediate destruction of much of the region.

In the hardest-hit city: Pompeii, the damage was greater and materialized with rain of ash and stones large volcanic eruptions that covered everything in their path, some even killed several people.

The other great difficulty was the lack of oxygen produced by the smoke that also caused death and despair.

A sacred place for Romans and Greeks

A legend has been woven around its history that the Greek and Roman cultures and mythologies took care to enlarge.

Both classical civilizations considered it a sacred place, intended for the worship of the Greek/Roman hero Hercules/Heracles.

By the way, the city of Herculaneum was called that way as a tribute.

Pompeii was at that time a flourishing city whose wealth was trade.

The writer Pliny the Younger was the great disseminator of the story of the tragic eruption, and thanks to what he recounted, humanity was able to learn about it.

World Heritage and tourist center

As the story spread, the popularity Pompeii and Herculaneum increased and so today they are two tourist epicenters, each year attract thousands of tourists from around the world who want to delve into the history of that impressive event.

UNESCO honored her with the distinction of being declared Heritage of humanity in 1997.