Mount Vesuvius

Mount Vesuvius is a somma–stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about 9 km (5.6 mi) east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of several volcanoes forming the Campanian volcanic arc.

Somma-Vesuvius complex · Metropolitan City of Naples · Italy · 1,281 m

Il cratere del Vulcano

About Mount Vesuvius

Mount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano on the Italian Peninsula, with an active cone built inside the older Monte Somma caldera; its last known eruption was in 1944 CE. Its best-known eruption occurred in 79 CE and destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Mount Vesuvius is a somma–stratovolcano located on the Gulf of Naples in Campania, Italy, about 9 km (5.6 mi) east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of several volcanoes forming the Campanian volcanic arc. Vesuvius consists of a large cone partially encircled by the steep rim of a summit caldera, resulting from the collapse of an earlier, much higher structure.

Mount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano on the Italian Peninsula, with an active cone built inside the older Monte Somma caldera; its last known eruption was in 1944 CE. Its best-known eruption occurred in 79 CE and destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Documented mountaineering milestones

  • 1776 — Publication of *Campi Phlegraei*, based on Sir William Hamilton’s repeated investigations and crater ascents of Vesuvius: Sir William Hamilton

Routes and approaches

The official nature trail n. 5, “Il Gran Cono,” begins at Piazzale di Quota 1000 in Herculaneum and follows the summit crater’s accessible southern and western sectors, with a stated maximum altitude of 1,175 metres and total length of 4.010 km.

These records are loaded from the existing route API. No route metrics are invented when the source does not provide them.

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Sources and provenance

Mountain information is factual reference only, not a current conditions or safety report.

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