Mount Vesuvius

Mount Vesuvius (Italian Vesuvio, from Oscan word fesf, “smoke”), volcano in southern Italy, near the shore of the Bay of Naples and the city of Naples. A solitary mountain rising from the plain of Campania, it has a base 50 km (30 mi) in circumference and is surmounted by two summits, of which the higher is the cone known as Vesuvius proper. On August 24 in the year ad 79, a great eruption of Mount Vesuvius began; the top of the mountain was blown off by an explosion, and the cities of Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Stabiae were overwhelmed by a rain of ashes and mud. At least 2,000 people were killed, with some death-toll estimates running as high as 20,000.

The eruption in 79 is the most famous, but Vesuvius has a very active history. An eruption in 1631 destroyed five towns and caused the deaths of more than 3,000 people. In 1794 a violent eruption destroyed the town of Torre del Greco. Following numerous smaller eruptions, a violent eruption took place in April 1906, lasting ten days and causing great destruction and the loss of 2,000 lives. Smaller eruptions occurred in 1913, 1926, 1929, and 1944.

The height of Mount Vesuvius is 1,277 m (4,190 ft), while that of Monte Somma, the lesser summit, is 1,132 m (3,714 ft). The volcano’s slopes are covered with vineyards and orchards. Higher up, oak and chestnut grow. Mount Vesuvius National Park opened in 1995, featuring an observatory and a variety of informational resources about the volcano.