The archaeological excavations of Herculaneum have returned the remains of the ancient city of Herculaneum, buried under a blanket of ash, lapilli and mud during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79, together with Pompeii, Stabia and Oplonti. Discovered by chance following the excavations for the construction of a well in 1709, the archaeological investigations in Herculaneum began in 1738 and continued until 1765; resumed in 1823, and were interrupted again in 1875, until a systematic excavation promoted by Amedeo Maiuri starting in 1927: most of the finds discovered are housed in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, while the virtual archaeological museum was born in 2008, which shows the city before the eruption of Vesuvius.
