Herculaneum: Sannite House, Villa of Neptune, Agustali Seat

Herculaneum has some cool villas, and this was one of the best, it's called the Sannite House. It was origionally a private home, but when it was covered in mud was a hotel/ rich people apartment complex apparently. I have no idea how archeologists are able to figure this out, kudos to them for being amazing history detectives!

one of the carvings on the wall-

I was also able to go into the Agustali Seat, which was a sort of temple in the city for merchants-

And naturally there were some bath houses in the city, too-

This house is called the Neptune House, thanks to this fireplace and fresco combo-

Overall I loved Herculaneum, the feel was very different from Pompeii and it was well worth the visit!!

Herculaneum: main street, temple

Herculaneum is another archeological site from the 79AD eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, however there are a few things that make it a little different then the much more famous Pompeii. First, Pompeii was more of a city, Herculaneum was more of a resort area for rich people (for example, Pompeii has ruts in the street from where carts used the road-Herculaneum has no ruts because apparently no carts were allowed in the city... kind of reminds me of how some resorts only have golf carts not real cars!) Another difference is how it was destroyed- Pompeii was covered in ash and pumice, which is hot and burned most organic material (like wood). Herculaneum was covered in mud, which did not destroy organic material- because of this the preservation is really different, the way the city looks is much different- Pompeii has one two story house for example, Herculaneum has lots of them.

So I headed over early in the morning. It was so beautiful- and here is another difference. Herculaneum is right up next to a town (called Ercoloano). So you can see the old ruins and the new town right next to each other.

I walked down this tunnel  (which shows how much the city has grown up since 79AD, the rest of the city sits much higher up)-

 And reached the first little square. This is a funeral statue of a Roman general-

I was the ONLY person in the site at this point, which was awesome!!! The first place I headed to was a temple/ workout site-

 Then I realized I have like no pictures of my self so I tried to take some with my cute little bendable stand thing that my parents gave me, but I don't use nearly enough-

Taking pictures of yourself is so hard! I have so few pictures of myself from this trip though, I had to try :) Also, do you notice how I am getting a legit white streak in my hair?! Only in one spot right in the front! Josh thinks I should let it go white so I can look like Rogue (the superhero), but I think I am too young! I definitely get this "white hair" thing from my Dad. Grr!!

Here are some of the main streets. See how the buildings all have 2 storied, unlike Pompeii? And those wooden beams are original. For real.

Cool, right? I think it looks a lot different then Pompeii. I was in love with the fact that no one was there... it was kinda creepy and awesome and surreal. Since Herculaneum was effectively evacuated, no one really died here either so that was nice I didn't feel like I was walking thru this awful place where all these people died, I kind of felt that was in Pompeii (although bodies have been found along the coast near Herculaneum, none in the city itself). Oh, and the bodies found near Herculaneum are actual skeletons, not the casts like in Pompeii, they are the only Roman skeletons ever found since Romans cremated their dead. I'm sure some scientists were pretty excited about that!