Pompei and the frozen streets of a Roman city

Pompei is the modern town beside the ruins of ancient Pompeii in Campania, Italy. The best-known part of the place is the archaeological park, where Roman streets, houses and public buildings survive beneath the shadow of Vesuvius.

Pompei’s Roman layout beneath Vesuvius

The ancient city was buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, and its excavated remains became a World Heritage property in 1997. The name Pompei is linked with a Roman urban landscape that includes the forum, temples, baths and domestic buildings.

That setting gives the site a strong visual identity: masonry walls, road surfaces, courtyards and painted interiors sit within a compact urban grid. The preserved town offers a rare chance to read a Roman city through its streets rather than through isolated monuments.

Stone, walls and domestic interiors

Much of Pompei’s appeal lies in the variety of its surviving fabric. Visitors encounter lava-stone pavements, plastered walls, columned spaces and rooms that once belonged to houses, shops and civic buildings.

The site also preserves fragments of decoration that make the city feel layered rather than monumental. Wall paintings, mosaics and architectural details appear alongside practical features such as thresholds, drainage channels and doorways.

Pompei as an excavated urban landscape

Pompei is not a single building but a spread of streets, blocks and public spaces. That scale matters, because the city can be read as a complete urban plan rather than as a collection of ruins.

Its history is tied to Roman Campania and to the volcanic landscape around Mount Vesuvius. The ancient city is associated with the eruption, the long archaeological history that followed, and the preservation of a Roman town in an excavated setting.

Visiting Pompei: what travellers from Western Europe should know

• Pompei lies in Campania, south-east of Naples, beside the modern town of the same name. The archaeological park is reached through the town and the wider rail network serving the Naples area.
• The ground includes paved Roman streets, stone thresholds and uneven surfaces. The site covers a large urban area, so walking between buildings takes time on foot.
• Summer sun can be strong across the open streets and squares. Much of the route runs without shade, especially across exposed parts of the excavated city.
• The official language is Italian and the currency is the euro.

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Frequently asked questions about Pompei

Where is Pompei?

Pompei is in Campania, in southern Italy, near Naples. The name refers both to the modern town and to the ancient city beside it.

What does a visit involve?

The visit means moving through an excavated Roman city with streets, houses and public buildings. Surfaces are uneven in places, and the site covers a wide area.

What makes Pompei distinctive?

Pompei preserves an entire Roman urban landscape under volcanic ash. The result is a city where ordinary domestic spaces stand beside temples, roads and civic structures.