Stock Photo - Ruins of the city of pilots Pompeii (in Latin: Pompeii) is a city of the ancient oceans, corresponding to the present Pompeii, whose history dates back to the 9th century BC. To end in 79, when, as a result of the Vesuvius eruption, it is covered under an acreage of ash and lapilli about six meters high. The excavations of the city, begun in 1748, have brought to light an archaeological site that became part of the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997, and is the second Italian monument for visits after the museum system of the Colosseum, Forum Roman and Palatine