Pompeii

Set against the dramatic backdrop of Vesuvius, Pompeii remains the most poignant site in antiquity. A maritime town devoted to pleasure, you can still see where the locals lived, shopped, washed, worshipped, enjoyed gladitorial shows, and finally died. The villas are built in the most luxurious style, the walls covered in murals, and fountains playing in the courtyards. This makes the devastating eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD all the more catastrophic. So deep was the town buried under the flow of lava that it was not rediscovered until 1748. It became a key influence on neo-classicism.