It was more terrifying than any disaster movie. In 79 a.d., the volcano Mount Vesuvius on Italy’s western coast unexpectedly erupted. In a matter of hours, the nearby Roman city of Pompeii and its neighbor Herculaneum were buried under tons of ash and volcanic rock. An estimated 2,000 people were killed.
For 17 centuries, Pompeii stayed buried. Ever since archaeologists began uncovering the site in the 18th century, the world has been fascinated by the unique glimpse it has given us into the ancient past. Last year alone, more than 3 million people visited the site.
Pompeii may soon attract even more visitors. An ambitious $125 million effort sponsored by the European Union and the Italian government is unlocking more secrets of the city. The Great Pompeii Project is discovering fascinating new details about how Pompeiians lived—and how they died.
At the same time, the project’s experts are working hard to save the ancient site, which has been -threatened by centuries of both natural and human damage.
The ultimate goal, project director Massimo Osanna told National Geographic, is to reconstruct ancient Roman life “as though we have taken close-up photographs of a society 2,000 years ago.”
It was more terrifying than any disaster movie. In 79 A.D., the volcano Mount Vesuvius on Italy’s western coast unexpectedly erupted. In a matter of hours, the nearby Roman city of Pompeii and its neighbor Herculaneum were buried under tons of ash and volcanic rock. An estimated 2,000 people were killed.
For 17 centuries, Pompeii stayed buried. Archaeologists began uncovering the site in the 18th century. Ever since, the world has been captivated by the unique glimpse it has given us into the ancient past. Last year alone, more than 3 million people visited the site.
Pompeii may soon attract even more visitors. An ambitious $145 million effort is unlocking more secrets of the city. It’s sponsored by the European Union and the Italian government. The Great Pompeii Project is discovering fascinating new details about how Pompeiians lived and died.
The ancient site has been threatened by centuries of both natural and human damage. As a result, the project’s experts are working hard to save it.
The ultimate goal, project director Massimo Osanna told National Geographic, is to reconstruct ancient Roman life “as though we have taken close-up photographs of a society 2,000 years ago.”