Herculaneum

The Villa of the Papyri (Italian: Villa dei Papiri, also known as Villa dei Pisoni and in early excavation records as the Villa Suburbana) was an ancient Roman villa in Herculaneum, in what is now Ercolano, southern Italy. It is named after its unique library of papyri (or scrolls), discovered in 1750. The Villa was considered to be one of the most luxurious houses in all of Herculaneum and in the Roman world. Its luxury is shown by its exquisite architecture and by the very large number of outstanding works of art discovered, including frescoes, bronzes and marble sculpture which constitute the largest collection of Greek and Roman sculptures ever discovered in a single context.It was situated on the ancient coastline below the volcano Vesuvius with nothing to obstruct the view of the sea. It was perhaps owned by Julius Caesar's father-in-law, Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus. In 1908, Barker suggested that Philodemus may have been the owner.In AD 79, the eruption of Vesuvius covered all of Herculaneum with up to 30 metres (98 ft) of volcanic material from pyroclastic flows. Herculaneum was first excavated in the years between 1750 and 1765 by Karl Weber by means of tunnels. The villa's name derives from the discovery of its library, the only surviving library from the Graeco-Roman world that exists in its entirety. It contained over 1,800 papyrus scrolls, now carbonised by the heat of the eruption, the "Herculaneum papyri". Most of the villa is still underground, but parts have been cleared of volcanic deposits. Many of the finds are displayed in the Naples National Archaeological Museum. The Getty Villa is a reproduction of the Villa of the Papyri.

The Orto Botanico di Portici (20,000 m²), also known as the Orto Botanico della Facoltà di Agraria dell'Università di Napoli-Portici, is a botanical garden operated by the University of Naples Agriculture Department, and located at Via Università, 100 – 80055 Portici, Province of Naples, Campania, Italy. It is open weekday mornings, but reservations must be made in advance and an admission fee is charged. The garden's site was formerly a Royal palace of Portici built 1738-1748 by Charles III of Spain, King of Naples and Sicily. After the Bourbons' departure in 1860, today's gardens were founded in 1872 with the Royal Higher School of Agriculture. The park was enlarged by a further 36 hectares at that time, and two ornamental gardens (about 9000 square meters) created, which were then transformed into botanical gardens by Nicola Antonio Pedicino, the school's first botany professor. In 1935 the school became part of the University of Naples, and subsequently occupied by allied troops during World War II, destroying many plants, but from 1948 its collections have been restored and enlarged. The gardens currently contain over 4000 specimens representing about 1000 species. The most important collection are desert plants, which include over 600 species from Agavaceae, Aizoaceae, Cactaceae (about 400 species), Didiereaceae, and Euphorbiaceae. Of particular interest are the Gymnocalycium, Mammillaria, and Rhipsalis; Alluaudia, Aloe, and Kalanchoe from South Africa and Madagascar; and notable specimens of Welwitschia mirabilis from the South African desert. The garden also includes palms, ferns, conifers, carnivorous plants, and edible and medicinal plants, as well as a heated greenhouse for succulents (1000 m²).

The Royal Palace of Portici (Reggia di Portici or Palazzo Reale di Portici; Neapolitan: Reggia ‘e Puortece) is a former royal palace in Portici, Southeast of Naples along the coast, in the region of Campania, Italy. Today it is the home of the Orto Botanico di Portici, a botanical garden operated by the University of Naples Federico II. These gardens were once part of the large royal estate that included an English garden, a zoo and formal parterres. It is located just a few metres from the Roman ruins of Herculaneum and is home to the Accademia Ercolanese, the deposit for all found objects of archaeological site. This is in effect the Museum of Herculaneum, opened in 1758 by King Charles.

The Basilica of Santa Maria a Pugliano is the main church in Ercolano and the oldest church in the area around Mount Vesuvius. The church contains two pagan marble sarcophagi from the 2nd and 4th centuries AD, later adapted into Christian altars, probably in the 11th century. There are records of an oratory dedicated to the Virgin Mary in the 11th century on a hill called Pugliano, whose name probably derives from the 'praedium pollianum', a farm on the outskirts of Ercolano belonging to someone called Pollio or Pollione. One noblewoman in Naples in 1076 left legacies to various churches in the city as well as to 'S.Maria at Pugnanum tari 8'. Her will is the oldest document that confirms the existence and the high reputation of the church in the 11th century. During the following centuries the church's popularity increased more and more and pilgrims flooded here from everywhere. In the early years after the Council of Trent the church obtained formal acknowledgement of its eminence: in 1574 was first mentioned as "basilica"; two years later became the parish church of Resina and Portici and by papal bull on 13 June 1579 Pope Gregory XIII confirmed the plenary indulgences of his predecessors to the pilgrims visiting the church on the first Friday of March, Easter Day and 15 August, Assumption day. In that century main works were made to enlarge and embellish the church. During the eruption of 1631 the churc was miraculously spared by the lava. Some years later a new street (via Pugliano) was built on the solidified lava to easily reach the church from the town centre. On 18 October 1849 Pope Pius IX, hosted in the royal palace of Portici by the king of Naples during his exile from Rome, visited the basilica. The church is worth a visit for its remarkable history and art treasures: the massive 36-meter high belfry from the end of the 16th century is one of the oldest of the area. Inside the church, there are sarcophagi from the 2nd and 4th centuries AD, that prove the existence of inhabitants in the area of Herculaneum in the aftermath of the eruption in AD 79; the exquisite wooden statues of Madonna di Pugliano and Black Crucifix, both of the 14th century; the font of 1425, one of the oldest outside the cathedral of Naples; the high altar, of the 16th century; the wooden bust of St. Januarius of the 17th century, the magnificent wooden pulpit of 1685, coeval to the wooden choir and behind the altar. Most of the paintings were made by local artists in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Madonna di Pugliano is worshipped since ever, but before the statue of the 14th century the painted Byzantine-like Madonna di Ampellone was venerated. The main patronal festival is on 15 August, Assumption Day. A special worship is dedicated to St. Januarius, that is co-patron of Ercolano; the statue of the saint has always been carried in procession during the eruptions of Mt. Vesuvius toward the lava front. A bust of St. Januarius facing Mt. Vesuvius was frequently erected in villas and buildings to protect them by the fury of Mt. Vesuvius.

Villa Favorita, also known as Real Villa della Favorita, was a royal rural palace (villa) in Ercolano, Italy.

Torre del Greco (Italian pronunciation: [ˈtorre del ˈɡrɛːko]; "Greek man's Tower") is a comune in the Metropolitan City of Naples in Italy, with a population of c. 85,000 as of 2016. The locals are sometimes called Corallini because of the once plentiful coral in the nearby sea, and because the city has been a major producer of coral jewellery and cameo brooches since the seventeenth century.

The National Railway Museum of Pietrarsa (Italian: Museo Nazionale Ferroviario di Pietrarsa) lies beside the Naples–Portici railway, between the city of Naples and the towns of Portici and San Giorgio a Cremano. Pietrarsa is an area among these villages in the past known as “Pietra Bianca” (white stone) but it was renamed Pietrarsa (burnt stone) after the eruption of the Vesuvius in 1631. The museum is housed in what was originally the old Bourbon workshop Officine di Pietrarsa, founded in 1840 at the command of Ferdinand II of Bourbon where steam machines for ships and boilers for locomotives were built. The workshop was organized in pavilions (where the collection is today displayed) which housed the various departments, each specializing in a different part of the production cycle.

San Sebastiano al Vesuvio (Neapolitan: San Bastiane) is a comune in the Metropolitan City of Naples, located on the western slopes of Mount Vesuvius. Its elevation means that it is often a few degrees cooler than the neighbouring metropolis of Naples. In 1944 it was struck by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius during the Allies' occupation of southern Italy, but has since been rebuilt. The main attraction is the church of San Sebastiano Martire from the 16th century.

Barra is an eastern quarter of Naples, southern Italy, with a population of some 40,000 inhabitants (38,103 in the 2001 census.) Barra occupies the easternmost section of the Naples comune's territory, ranging from the sea to the Vesuvio's slopes, bounding with Poggioreale. The area has suffered much the same fate of urban decay as the rest of the eastern periphery of Naples, a fate that includes drugs and entrenched organized crime. Historically, it was one of the Vesuvian areas built up under the Bourbons in the 18th century and still displays some structures from that period that have been restored and incorporated into the tourist/cultural itinerary of "Vesuvian Villas". The area was heavily bombed in World War II.

Ponticelli is an eastern suburb of Naples, southern Italy with a population of some 70,000 inhabitants.

Miano is a suburb of Naples with a population of around 26,000. Miano is a planned station of the Naples Metro.

San Giovanni a Teduccio is a coastal suburb in the east of Naples, in southern Italy.