Pompeii is famous throughout the world for its destruction due to the eruption of Vesuvius in the first century AD. In the VIII century B.C. some populations settled in the area where then, through the union of some villages, the city of Pompeii arose. The Hellenistic culture together with the Etruscan and later the Roman one forged the 800 years of Pompeii before an earthquake and then an eruption, which occurred in 79 AD put an end to this beautiful city. Although it is a tragedy (1150 victims), the ash and lapilli flows have preserved the city over time and excavations, begun in 1748, have brought to light Pompeii exactly as it was at the time of its destruction. Sensational are the casts of people who tried to protect themselves from the weather and escape death. Urban planning is typical of Roman cities: there is the forum, the amphitheatre and the city is crossed by the Cardo and the Decumanus.