Mount Vesuvius from Pompeii |
| Before the infamous eruption of AD79 a 6600ft high Volcano. Post AD79 4,203 ft.
Unbelievable that a third of the mountain was literally blown 20 miles into the air complete with molten lava, pumice and the pyroclastic flow and boiling mud that buried Herculaneum and Pompeii. |
The crater of Vesuvius |
| Wasn’t too sure what to expect as we arrived at the crater. Fortunately no sign of Gollum or a vast pool of boiling lava. |
Crater wall |
| A close up of part of the side of the crater. Although the rock (pumice) shares a crumbly looking texture similar to soil its solid and harder than concrete. |
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| Apart from a Yellow Horned Sea Poppy and the occasional Broom perhaps unsurprisingly very few plants near the summit. | Further down the slope where the pumice had begun to break down into razor sharp scree more Broom, Valerian and Pine. |
 Valerian and Broom |
 Broom covered slope of Vesuvius |
Vesuvius from a local Vineyard. |
| Despite the obvious dangers of living adjacent to a Volcano the mineral rich soil continues to draw people in. Some things never change. |