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Pompeii

ancient Roman city near modern Naples, Italy / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pompeii was an ancient Roman city that was buried by Mount Vesuvius. It is currently a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The preserved site features excavated ruins of streets and houses that visitors can explore.

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Ruins of Pompeii from above, with Vesuvius in the background (seen from a drone)
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The black mark represents ash to show how much of Pompeii was covered

On 24 October 79 AD, a volcano called Mount Vesuvius erupted[1][2] and destroyed the city and its people, killing 2,000 of them.

Pompeii is now considered one of the world's most important historical sites because of the way the volcanic ash preserved the city and its people. This gives historians and archaeologists a vivid picture of life in the Roman Empire around 2,000 years ago.

Archaeologists have found graffiti written by the people who lived in the town.[3] People often wrote on walls, and archaeologists have been able to read some of what they wrote.