Pompeii (Latin: Pompeii) is an ancient city, corresponding to present-day Pompeii, whose history began in the 9th century BC and ended in 79, when, following the eruption of Vesuvius, it was covered under a blanket of ash and lapilli about six metres high. Its rediscovery and the related excavations, which began in 1748, brought to light an archaeological site that became part of the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997, and is the second most visited monument in Italy after the museum system of t