Thanks to Archeology for highlighting, Pompeii Has Been Added to Google Street View. Almost all of us learned the story of this ancient city, midway down Italy's western coastline, in elementary school. It was one of many small, agricultural cities around the base of the volcano. Mount Vesiuvius erupted in 79 AD and buried the Roman city under 60 feet of ash in places. Perhaps 20,000 people inhabited the town on August 24, when the volcano rained nine feet of pumice.
Wiki tells there was one historian who witnessed the eruption, Pliny the Younger. He was across the bay as his uncle sailed for a closer view. The 17-year old described darkness descending upon the region as the volcano erupted. A tsunami was generated by a subsequent earthquake.
By clicking here into Google Maps, you can virtually walk through the streets of Pompeii.
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