A Large City and a Port about 150 Kilometres South of Rome

In AD 79, Pompeii was a large city and a port about 150 kilometres south of Rome. Mount Vesuvius was almost ten kilometres away from the city. August 24 th was a holiday in Pompeii and the day started out like every other day. At noon, happy crowds filled the streets. There were people in markets and restaurants. They were shopping, walking around the town or meeting friends. Suddenly, there was a very loud noise and an explosion. People saw smoke coming out of Mount Vesuvius. They were surprised. The people of Pompeii did not know that Vesuvius was a volcano. The peaceful green mountain became a terrifying volcano. A huge cloud of ash , small stones, rocks and poisonous gas rose high into the sky. A strong wind blew the cloud toward Pompeii. Day became night. People were in panic. They knew that they didn’t have much time. There were thousands of people running in panic. Some just left the town immediately; some of them went back to their homes to pack up valuables and clothes. Only a few of them could escape. Thousands of people died because of the gas and the ash. The eruption continued for days. The whole town was buried seventeen metres under the ground. In 1748, a group of explorers who were looking for ancient objects arrived and began to dig in that area. They found the ashes and realized that they were on a buried city. Scientists found many other interesting things as they dug in the ash. The buildings were intact . Skeletons were frozen where they were. The ash helped everything stay as it was almost two thousand years ago. Today Pompeii is a very famous tourist attraction in Italy. Thousands of tourists visit this site every day to see the city. They can see the stadium, theatres, shops and restaurants of Pompeii. There is also a museum in which tourists can see old everyday objects like shoes, sandals, jewellery and even food that was buried underground.