Thanks to the latest maintenance work put in place by the Archaeological Park of Herculaneum. In a few months the ancient beach of Herculaneum will once again come to life.
An important work that will allow to admire the unique shoreline of an ancient city.
The work is aimed, not only to restore the ancient beach that bordered the city, but also to solve the problem of rainwater near the fornices.
The latter problem has already been partially solved, thanks to the restoration of the city’s old sewer system. New system will make it possible to recover rainwater. So that it is reused for the care of plants in the Archaeological Park and for offices.
Work in Herculaneum’s ancient beach
The restoration of the ancient beach is an important step. One that will make it possible to connect the area of the fornices with that of Villa dei Papiri, which until now has been closed for works.
In fact, the position of the ancient beach of Herculaneum, located 4 meters below sea level, has always created problems of spring and rainwater management, preventing access to Villa dei Papiri.
With this intervention the two areas will finally be brought back into connection.
The artifacts recovered during the work
In addition, these maintenance works also recovered numerous artifacts buried for centuries in the pyroclastic cloud. Among them: numerous wooden materials and the body of the last escapee.
Unlike the others found inside the fornices, the latter was standing near the beach, with their backs to the sea and carrying a bag full of precious objects.
Unfortunately, their intent to escape from the inferno that was about to descend on Herculaneum was to no avail. The rescue boats were never able to reach the Herculaneum beach. And save the hundreds of people who had headed out to sea to escape the fury of Vesuvius.
They were all swept away by the powerful pyroclastic flow, dying without even realizing it within moments.
