What to see
The vast urban grid follows a strict Hippodamian street plan introduced during the Samnite era. Visitors explore monumental public architecture largely built from the 2nd century BC, including the Forum, the Basilica, the Comitium, the Stabian Baths, and the Large Theatre. Religious structures range from the Greek Doric Temple in the Triangular Forum to the temples of Jupiter, Isis, and Apollo. The surviving walls preserve original graffiti written in colloquial Vulgar Latin. Beyond the city walls lie spectacular extra-urban residences. The 2nd-century BC Villa dei Misteri, located outside Porta Ercolano, is celebrated for its megalographia: life-size frescoes in the triclinium depicting mimes, mysterious rituals, or wedding preparations. Nearby, the Villa di Diomede (excavated in the 1770s) features a thermal suite and a lower-level cryptoporticus cellar where victims' bodies and coins were discovered. Near Porta Marina, the late 1st-century BC Villa Imperiale is fronted by a 90-metre portico with aediculae and contains the largest triclinium in Pompeii, adorned with Third and Fourth Style paintings.
Visiting
Systematic excavations began in 1748 under Charles III of Bourbon and director Roque Joaquín de Alcubierre. The practice of leaving the excavated ruins exposed was championed in the late 18th century by Queen Maria Carolina and engineer Francesco La Vega. In the 19th century, Giuseppe Fiorelli systematically divided the site into regiones and insulae and, in 1863, introduced the plaster cast technique to capture the forms of the eruption's victims in their final moments. Today, while you walk the streets preserved by the Pompeii Archaeological Park, note that the vast majority of original movable artifacts, frescoes, and mosaics are displayed at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, with a smaller collection housed on-site in the Pompeii Antiquarium.
Our editors' tip
Examine the Sarno limestone fortifications near Porta Ercolano carefully; you can still identify the impact marks left by artillery fire when the Roman general Sulla besieged the vulnerable gate in 89 BC during the Social Wars.