Villa dei Papiri ★
Piso's villa at Herculaneum: the only ancient library to survive whole, and the bronzes now in the Naples museum.
Ercolano: 5 places to start with
-
Archaeology Herculaneum Excavations The wood did not burn away here: it charred, and the upper floors are still standing. -
Museums Scavi archeologici di Ercolano The town sealed by the Vesuvius mud, dug through tunnels like a mine. -
Castles Villa dei Papiri Piso's villa at Herculaneum: the only ancient library to survive whole, and the bronzes now in the Naples museum. -
Museums Teatro romano di Ercolano The first building found under Vesuvius, still buried and visited by tunnel. - Castles Villa Favorita Eighteenth-century royal villa on Ercolano's Miglio d'Oro: curved stair to the park and grounds running to the sea.
20 places covered in Ercolano Grouped by type, most important first.
No place with that name: try fewer letters.
Castles, palaces and villas
11Villa Favorita ★
Eighteenth-century royal villa on Ercolano's Miglio d'Oro: curved stair to the park and grounds running to the sea.
Casa dell'Atrio a Mosaico
Roman domus in ancient Herculaneum with a chequerboard atrium warped by the eruption and a terrace on the walls.
Casa del Bicentenario
Roman domus in Herculaneum reopened after long restoration: carbonised folding door, frescoes and wax tablets.
Casa del Colonnato Tuscanico
Herculaneum domus that grew over centuries: Tuscan columns, Third Style frescoes and a wall shifted by the eruption.
Villa Campolieto
Villa on Ercolano's Miglio d'Oro finished by Vanvitelli: Greek-cross plan and elliptical portico towards the sea.
Open the full list · 11Close the list
Villa Durante
Eighteenth-century villa on Ercolano's Miglio d'Oro with a triangular plan, a circular courtyard and a chapel.
Villa Signorini
Eighteenth-century villa in Ercolano bought by the owner of Cirio: loggias, illusionistic frescoes, Leda fountain.
Villa Aprile
Large villa on Ercolano's Miglio d'Oro with a scenic park of small temples, fake ruins, grottoes and waterfalls.
Villa Granito di Belmonte
Eighteenth-century villa in Ercolano near the Portici palace, with a two-flight staircase and a sea-facing loggia.
Villa Ruggiero
Small villa on Ercolano's Miglio d'Oro: elliptical courtyard, frescoed ballroom and Saint Januarius facing Vesuvius.
Museums, theatres and collections
5Scavi archeologici di Ercolano ★
The town sealed by the Vesuvius mud, dug through tunnels like a mine.
Teatro romano di Ercolano ★
The first building found under Vesuvius, still buried and visited by tunnel.
Museo archeologico virtuale
Virtual museum in Ercolano: life in the Vesuvian towns before the eruption of AD 79, told with holograms and 3D.
Museo dell'Osservatorio vesuviano
Museum in the historic Vesuvius Observatory: Palmieri's seismographs, minerals and views of the crater.
Parco archeologico di Ercolano
The excavations of ancient Herculaneum, a UNESCO site: houses with carbonised wood and the Roman boat.
Archaeology
3
Herculaneum Excavations ★
The wood did not burn away here: it charred, and the upper floors are still standing.
Collegio degli Augustali
Seat of the imperial cult in ancient Herculaneum: a shrine frescoed with Hercules and the custodian's bed.
Ercolano antica
The Roman town buried by Vesuvius in AD 79: a grid of insulae, an underground theatre, houses with charred wood.
Churches and places of worship
1Basilica di Santa Maria a Pugliano
Mother church of Ercolano, the oldest in the Vesuvian area: Roman sarcophagi, a medieval Madonna and a tall belfry.
Tours, tickets and experiences
Bookable on GetYourGuideExperiences in Ercolano
Continue the Ercolano guide
Near Ercolano
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
