Stabia
Main entrance of Villa San Marco in Stabiae
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| Location | Castellammare di Stabia, Province of Naples, Campania, Italy |
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| Region | Magna Graecia |
| Coordinates | 40°42′11″N 14°29′57″E / 40.702952°N 14.499259°ECoordinates: 40°42′11″N 14°29′57″E / 40.702952°N 14.499259°E |
| Type | Settlement |
| Site notes | |
| Management | Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Pompei, Ercolano e Stabia |
| Website | Sito Archeologico di Stabiae (Italian) (English) |
Stabiae was an ancient Roman town which is famous for the magnificent Roman villas found there near to the modern town of Castellammare di Stabia approximately 4.5 km southwest of Pompeii. The beautiful objects and frescoes taken from these villas were often sold and distributed, while many can be found in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.
The villas were sited on a 50 m high headland overlooking the Gulf of Naples. Being only 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) from Mount Vesuvius, this seaside resort was largely buried by two metres of tephra ash in 79 AD.
Originally a small port, by the 6th century BC Stabiae had already been overshadowed by the much larger port at Pompeii. The town was destroyed by Lucius Cornelius Sulla on 30 April 89 BC during the Social War, a revolt by many of Rome's allies in the area. The Roman author and admiral Pliny the Elder recorded that the town was rebuilt and became a popular resort for wealthy Romans. He reported that there were several miles of luxury villas built along the edge of the headland, all enjoying panoramic views out over the bay.
According to the account written by his nephew, Pliny the Elder was at the other side of the bay in Misenum when the eruption started. He travelled by galley ship across the bay, partly to observe the eruption more closely, and partly to rescue people from the coast near the volcano.
Pliny died at Stabiae the following day, probably during the arrival of the sixth and largest pyroclastic surge of the eruption caused by the collapse of the eruption plume. The very diluted outer edge of this surge reached Stabiae and left two centimetres of fine ash on top of the immensely thick aerially-deposited tephra which further protected the underlying remains.
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Wikipedia