The Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD

The cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried by an avalanche of boiling mud and lava. Pompeii was buried about 20-40 feet under and Herculaneum was under 60-75 feet. The cities were abandoned and their location forgotten. In 1595 their were some expeditions in the area of Pompeii by the order of Charles III, King of the Two Sicilies, and some artifacts were discovered which caused much pillaging. Then some Archeological excavations began in the mid-nineteenth century. Today much of Pompeii has been excavated, and along with it ghostly stories of people who had been trying to save their lives. There are numerous molds of people and animals found.