Herculaneum Guided Tour from Sorrento or Naples: Explore an Ancient Roman City

Highlights

• Herculaneum Archaeological Site
• Guided Tour
• Transport Included

What's included

Itinerary

1. 1

   Archeological Park of Herculaneum

   1h 30min

   Transfer by bus to Herculaneum and visit of the ruins with our authorized guide for an archeologial tour of 1.5 hrs. Once a small and sophisticated Roman city, Herculaneum was buried under meters of ash and pumice after the catastrophic eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. The site is still perfectly preserved, has remains of streets, houses and villas excavated that visitors can admire. Please note the itinerary may vary based on guide discretion

2. 2

   Stop 2

   10min

   The house of the Hotel is a house of roman times, buried during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 and found following the archaeological excavations of Herculaneum. The house of the Hotel is located on the edge of the hill, in a panoramic position, with its two thousand hundred and fifty square meters is the largest house of Herculaneum so far discovered and is also the only one of the city to own a spa district was for these reasons considered at first to be a hotel.

3. 3

   Stop 3

   10min

   The Sacellum of the Augustales was built near the forum when Emperor Augustus was still alive and in power. It is a building with a quadrangular plan that preserves the splendid frescoes that represent Hercules entering Olympus in the company of Jupiter, Juno, Minerva and Hercules against Achelous. The janitor’s skeleton was found in his room lying on the bed.

4. 4

   Casa dei Cervi

   10min

   The luxurious house with sea view terrace belonged to Q. Granius Verus, a slave freed shortly before the destruction of Herculaneum. In the garden there are two statues of deer assaulted by a pack of dogs, from these the house takes its name

5. 5

   Casa del Salone Nero

   10min

   The house of the black salon owes its name to its party hall entirely painted in black with geometric patterns. In this house were found waxed tablets of L. Venidius Ennychus who was supposed to have owned the house. The tablets speak of her eligibility for Augustale, the purchase of a slave, and the birth of a daughter.

6. 6

   Stop 6

   10min

   The skeleton house is probably the result of the aggregation of three smaller buildings, and its name derives from the discovery of human remains in a second-floor room in 1831.

7. 7

   Casa di Nettuno e Anfitrite

   10min

   Truly enchanting are the mosaics in glass paste, (very expensive for the time), with floral and hunting scenes and in a central position the mosaic with Neptune and Amphitrite, (the marine deity and his companion)

Before you go

Location