Ercolano

Ercolano (Italian: [erkoˈlaːno]) is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania of Southern Italy. It lies at the western foot of Mount Vesuvius, on the Bay of Naples, just southeast of the city of Naples. The medieval town of Resina (IPA: [reˈziːna]) was built on the volcanic material left by the eruption of Vesuvius (79 AD) that destroyed the ancient city of Herculaneum, from which the present name is derived. Ercolano is a resort and the starting point for excursions to the excavations of Herculaneum and for the ascent of Vesuvius by bus. The town also manufactures leather goods, buttons, glass, and Lacryma Christi, 'Tears of Christ' wine.

According to legend, Herculaneum was founded by Hercules, who was returning from one of his Twelve Labours. Historically, it was most likely founded by the Oscans, an Italic tribe of the 8th century BC, and later became part of both the Etruscan and Samnite dominions. Under the control of the Romans, the city was a renowned seaside resort where some of the richest Roman citizens spent their summer vacations. It was built according to the standard model of Hippodamus of Miletus with a grid of crossing Decumans and Cardos. The houses were elegant and large and there were public buildings that were abundant and large, compared to the small number of inhabitants (estimated to be 5,000).

On 5 February AD 62, the resort city suffered heavy damage from violent earthquakes. Restoration projects were still ongoing at that time and were cut short in AD 79, when Vesuvius violently erupted and completely buried the small city under thick layers of hot volcanic debris. Unlike neighboring Pompeii, which was buried under pumice and fine ash, the citizens of Herculaneum died of severe thermal shock from successions of superheated pyroclastic surges and lava flows.

After the eruption of AD 79 the area was slowly re-populated and in AD 121 the old coast road from Naples to Nocera was probably in place. In the Basilica di Santa Maria a Pugliano are two early Christian marble sarcophagi from the 2nd and 4th centuries AD which give evidence of habitation on the site of the buried Herculaneum.

There are no historical records covering the period between the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and the year 1000, but it is certain that the coast near Mount Vesuvius would have been exposed to frequent wars as a result of the peoples and armies invading the Empire. The first records of the existence of a village named Resina or Risìna, (… de alio latere est ribum de Risina… ; … de alio capite parte meridiana est resina …, etc.), are from the 10th century.

The etymology of the name is controversial. Some academics believe that it comes from a corruption of Rectina, the name of the Roman noblewoman from Herculaneum who asked Pliny The Elder for help during the eruption in AD 79. Other explanations are that the name could come from the Latin word raetincula, meaning the nets used by the fishermen of Herculaneum, or from the resin of trees grown on the ancient lava, or from the name of the river that flowed alongside Herculaneum. Finally some suggest that the name is the anagram of sirena (siren): a siren was the symbol of the village and the town of Resina until 1969.

Documents from the 11th century indicate the presence of a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary on a hill called Pugliano whose name probably derives from Praedium Pollianum, an ancient estate outside Herculaneum whose owner was called Pollio.

In 1418 Queen Joanna II of Naples granted the Università (villages with local governments) of Torre del Greco, Resina, Portici and Cremano to her favourite Sergianni Caracciolo and later to Antonio Carafa. Thereafter these villages remained in the possession of the Carafa family and were subject to events within the family and the wider history of the Kingdom of Naples.