Mount Vesuvius (Italian: Monte Vesuvio, Latin: Mons Vesuvius) is a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, about 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, although it is not currently erupting. The two other major active volcanoes in Italy, Etna and Stromboli, are located the islands of Sicily and Stromboli respectively.
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| (Italy) – Visit Mount Vesuvius |
Mount Vesuvius is best known for its eruption in AD 79 that led to the burying and destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. They were never rebuilt, although surviving townspeople and probably looters did undertake extensive salvage work after the destructions. The towns' locations were eventually forgotten until their accidental rediscovery in the 18th century.
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| (Italy) – Visit Mount Vesuvius |
The eruption also changed the course of the Sarno River and raised the sea beach, so that Pompeii was now neither on the river nor adjacent to the coast. Vesuvius itself underwent major changes – its slopes were denuded of vegetation and its summit changed considerably due to the force of the eruption. Vesuvius has erupted many times since and is today regarded as one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because of the population of 3,000,000 people living nearby and its tendency towards explosive (Plinian) eruptions. It is the most densely populated volcanic region in the world.
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| (Italy) – Visit Mount Vesuvius |
What to see there
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| (Italy) – Visit Mount Vesuvius |
- The crater with its rising fumes.
- The different lava stones, changing colour as you walk uphill and around the crater.
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| (Italy) – Gulf of Naples |
- The view of the Bay of Naples and Pompeii in good weather.
- The scarred landscape where the 1950's lava streams went downhill.
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| (Italy) – Pompeii |
- The remains of the funicular railway built in 1870, and which operated until the volcano's last major eruption in 1944. The song Funiculì, Funiculà was written by composer Peppino Turco, to commemorate the opening of the railway.
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| (Italy) – Bay Of Naples |
(Wiki)
