Herculaneum

Herculaneum is magnificent 

Herculaneum is a destination not to be missed on a trip to Campania. Already nominated for the title of Italian Capital of Culture, it is a territory rich in attractions. According to legend, Hercules discovered it as a pleasant place to rest after his efforts.

It is in fact located in the middle of the Gulf, between Vesuvius and the sea, just a few minutes from Naples and Pompeii, sharing with the latter a tragic fate: being buried by the eruption of 79 AD, as told by Pliny the Younger.

Up to that moment it was a favourite place of vacation and leisure for the Romans, with beautiful villas overlooking the sea that still show their beauty to the public.

From the Romans to the Bourbons, the step is short: the pearl of the so-called “Golden Mile”, Herculaneum saw the alternation, starting in the 1700s, of superb villas, commissioned by the royal families following King Charles III of Bourbon who established in Portici one of the Bourbon residences, the Royal Palace of Portici, which can still be visited today in its splendour.

The first playground of Italy was built in Herculaneum, in the park of Villa Favorita. The park contained carousels that cheered up aristocratic feasts, and today it is an English garden by the sea that can be visited free of charge. A mixture of nature, lava stone and history that today represents a destination of international character: the archaeological park of Herculaneum, destroyed in 79 AD by the eruption of Vesuvius, UNESCO site since 1997 with over 500,000 entries per year and the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve constituted by the National Park, with over a million entries per year.

Did you know that the city of Herculaneum is twinned with Xi’an, in China? Both cities are UNESCO World Heritage Sites and were discovered by chance: the first was in 1710, by a farmer who, while looking for water from a well, came across the ancient marbles of the theater; in China, the extraordinary army of terracotta was discovered by local farmers in the 70s.

The Resina Clothes Market

A must-see destination for vintage lovers. A piece of city history that began after the war, with the arrival of clothes from the United States as a result of the Marshall Plan. Today still many young people come from all over the world to buy jeans or a jacket that cannot be found elsewhere. There are numerous movies and video clips which use clothes rented in the Herculaneum Market.

How to get there

By car: motorway A1 Naples – Salerno, take the Ercolano Scavi exit.

By train: EAV Circumvesuviana towards Torre Annunziata - Oplonti or Poggiomarino (Via Scafati), get off at Ercolano Scavi - Vesuvio station.