Our journey takes us along the coast road through Castellammare di Stabia and out along the motorway to Herculaneum. Herculaneum was destroyed along with Pompeii in 79 AD, and was rediscovered in 1709. Il was e residential town without Pompeii's commercial importance, surrounded by the villas of wealthy Romans.
Wben the catastrophe of 79 AD occurred, Herculaneum was buried by a torrent of mud that hardened into a sof tufa (a kind of course rock) that preserved many of the wooden parts of houses and household objects which can b eseen today. A large portion of old Herculaneum is still buried under the modern town and even today excavations are going on to discover what treasures lie buried under the rock.