A day on the Vesuvius volcano – the Italian dust bowl
Mount Vesuvius is one of the three Italian volcanoes, located 9 kilometers from the city of Naples, or Napoli in Italian. The eruption of Vesuvius destroyed Pompeii, Herculaneum and many other smaller villages in 79 AD. The citizens of Pompeii thought it's a mountain back then and inhabited the area. Vesuvius „threw up“ so much ashes, lava and stones that he lost 800 meters of his height with that eruption.
Vedi Napoli e poi muori -- See Naples and die
It's considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world and still active. The highest point is 1281 meters and a new eruption would affect 3 million people in the surrounding area. The last eruption was in 1944. during WWII and my tour guy said the smoke was visible even on the coast of Albania.
Nowadays in 2004. the Italian parliament started an action where they offer each citizen 30 000 euros to move out from the „red area“. That area is under a 72 hour evacuation plan in case of emergency. I visited Naples, Pompeii and Vesuvius in July 2015 and I remember it as one of my favourite trips. The city of Naples provides a beautiful view of the volcano and to me it looked really magical. The tip of the volcano is white from ashes.
I traveled from Naples first to Pompeii with the Circum Vesuviana railroad, which made an entire circle around the volcano stopping at many villages. We exited at the Pompeii station and spent our day there. I already wrote a post about Pompeii as one of my first Steemit posts - Pompeii, the city buried in ashes in 79 AD.
In Pompeii I paid a Vesuvius tour with a big military Mercedes van, it took around one hour to get to the crater. The road was bumpy and dusty and as we were climbing up the volcano the view was more and more stunning. I saw the entire Naples bay, the Capri island and sorentine coast. Most of the volcano is covered in yellow flowers called Genestra. As soon as I exited the van, the scent of the flowers was overwhelming.
Since it's a mountain, the temperature is a little lower than on the bottom so the air was fresh for mid July. The crater is surrounded by a wooden fence which I looked over and saw the inside of the crater. The inside is covered with dust and stones, which crashed in after the last eruption and clogged the hole.
The longer Vesuvius stays silent, the stronger the next eruption will be.
Great post - thanks for sharing!
I also traveled from Naples first to Pompeii on the Circum Vesuviana railroad a few years back. I remember between astounded at how big both Pompeii and Vesuvius were. Certainly a must visit for anyone in that area of Italy.
You're welcome.
I'm glad you experienced that too :) Yes, it's a full day trip. In Pompeii I was walking around with a map to not get lost. Some parts are still being excavated.
Good to know, because I am going to Napels on holiday this year.
It's a lovely historical city, although in 2015. when I visited some parts of the city were very dirty. The mob took over the garbage business in Naples. I hope you will go to see Pompeii, it's only 30 mins with a 2 euro train ticket.
I stay in a hotel in Sorrento , but I will visit pompeii.
Haven't visited Sorrento but the images on Google look nice. Have fun there :)
Thanks