Mount Vesuvius

I stand tall and green by a sparkling blue sea called the Bay of Naples, right in a country named Italy. For thousands of years, the warm sun has shined on my slopes, where olive trees and grapevines grow. People love to look at me, thinking I am just a peaceful, gentle giant. But deep inside, I have always held a secret, a rumbling, fiery heart full of power and heat. Most of the time I am quiet, but I am not just any mountain. I am Mount Vesuvius.

Long, long ago, people built busy towns right at my feet. One of these towns was called Pompeii. Families lived there in beautiful homes, children played in the streets, and bakers made fresh bread every morning. They thought I would always be a quiet, green neighbor. But on a summer day, on August 24th in the year 79, my fiery heart could not be held back. I let out a giant roar and sent a huge cloud of ash and dust high into the sky. It looked like a giant, gray tree growing into the clouds. A young man named Pliny the Younger watched from far away and wrote down everything he saw. The ash fell like a soft, heavy blanket over Pompeii, covering everything and everyone. It wasn't loud and fiery like you might think, but quiet and fast, burying the whole city in a deep sleep.

For more than a thousand years, the secret of Pompeii was safe with me, hidden under my blanket of hardened ash. Then, in the 1700s, curious people started digging in the area. They were special explorers of the past called archaeologists. At first, they found just a few old objects, but soon they uncovered the top of a wall. They kept digging and were amazed by what they found. An entire city was waiting for them. They discovered streets, houses with colorful paintings still on the walls, and fountains in gardens. It was like a photograph from the past. I have rumbled a few times since then, with my last big puff of smoke happening in March of 1944, but I have kept my promise to let the world see the secret I kept for so long.

Today, I am peaceful again. I am a beautiful national park where visitors can hike up my trails and look into the big crater at my top. They can also see the amazing view of the bright blue bay below. Scientists watch over me very carefully with special tools to make sure I stay calm and quiet. I am a reminder of nature’s great power, but I am also a keeper of stories. I show people a window into a world from long ago, and I teach everyone that history is all around us, sometimes waiting just beneath our feet.