Around noon on August 24, 79 ce, a huge eruption from Mount Vesuvius showered volcanic debris over the city of Pompeii, followed the next day by clouds of blisteringly hot gases.
Vesuvius is still very much an active stratovolcano, with the city of Naples and its 3 million residents only a mere 12 kilometres away. The fact that the city could be destroyed in 2 and a half minutes makes it the volcano one of the most studied and precariously watched in the world.