"It was only more than sixty years after the beginning of the excavations in Pompeii that between 1814 and 1816 the city's forum and thus its administrative and communicative heart were uncovered. As no other Roman forum had been excavated by then, it played an important role not only in the handbooks on ancient architecture, but also in the contemporary discussion on urban planning, where it was often cited as a successful example of a central, monumental square.
However, although the significance of the Forum can still be seen in every monograph and travel guide to this day, the documentation of the state of the excavation could not satisfy newer demands. Thus, documentation of the pavement and the five arches of honour, which did not require any intervention, was planned first. Later, at the suggestion of the Soprintendenza, the older history of this part of the square could be explored at the southern end of the forum through spatially limited excavations."
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"Vesuvius (Italian Vesuvio, Latin Vesuvius) is the only active volcano on the European mainland. It lies on the Gulf of Naples in the Italian region of Campania, nine kilometres from the city of Naples.
The name "Vesuvius" is attributed to the Indo-European root *aues- ("shine") or *eus- ("burn"). It would therefore mean "the shining" or "the burning".
Today the mountain is 1281 m high. It consists of the remains of an earlier much higher, older stratified volcano, the Somma, whose peak collapsed into a caldera during its last eruption in 79 AD, and the newly formed cone of the "actual" Vesuvius inside the collapse basin.
The activity of Vesuvius triggers recurrent plinian eruptions. The typical characteristic of these explosive volcanic eruptions is the rise of a kilometre-high eruption column and the rapid emission of large quantities of volcanic material. The large Vesuvius eruptions are also accompanied by pyroclastic currents, which are among the most dangerous forms of volcanism. These major events are followed by active phases with Stromboli-type eruptions and effusive lava flows. The subsequent dormancy can last several hundred years and ends with another major eruption.
The term "Plinian eruption" refers to Pliny the Younger. The later Roman senator observed as a young man the last great eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, during which the ancient cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae and Oplontis were buried, and described these years later in his writings. Vulcanology today uses the term as a general classification feature. In the 20th century, several volcanoes erupted in Plinian eruptions, including Mount St. Helens in 1980 and Pinatubo in 1991.
Vesuvius was active for centuries after 79 AD. Since the last eruption in 1944, it has been in a state of rest."
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