Boat Sheds (Fornici) on the Ancient Shoreline
The twelve arched vaults along Herculaneum's ancient shoreline are where the town's last hours became permanent. On the morning of August 25, 79 CE, somewhere between 300 and 340 people crowded into these boat sheds — structures normally used for small vessels and storage — and waited for rescue ships that never came. The pyroclastic surge hit before any boat could reach them.
What you walk into today is that specific moment, held in volcanic rock for nearly two thousand years. Resin casts of the skeletal remains, placed back in situ in 2011, are positioned exactly where people fell. A separate pavilion shelters the actual wooden hull of a Roman boat, its joinery still intact — a detail that tells you as much about Roman craftsmanship as any mosaic in the houses above.
💛 What travellers fall for
People who return to Herculaneum tend to come back here last, not first. The fornici hit differently once you've walked through the houses on the hill and have some sense of who lived there. Give yourself time to stand in the vaults without rushing toward the boat pavilion — the scale of the arches, and what filled them, takes a moment to settle.
The story behind Boat Sheds (Fornici) on the Ancient Shoreline
The boat sheds were built in the first century CE using opus reticulatum — the distinctive diamond-patterned stonework — with concrete vaults designed to shelter small craft along what was then Herculaneum's working waterfront. The town sat on a promontory above the Bay of Naples, popular with wealthy Romans as a resort. The vaults likely served a mix of purposes: boat storage, shelter, possibly leisure space for the elite households nearby.
The eruption of 79 CE buried everything under 20 to 25 metres of pyroclastic material, and slow tectonic uplift over the following centuries shifted the area roughly 400 metres inland and four metres below sea level. The vaults weren't excavated until 1980–1982, when archaeologist Giuseppe Maggi's team uncovered both the structures and the first skeletal remains. A major restoration funded by the Packard Humanities Institute, completed in 2024, stabilised the vaults, addressed groundwater, and reopened the beach. Andrew Wallace-Hadrill's ongoing work applies DNA analysis and isotope testing to the remains, still yielding new information about who these people were.
Good to know
Take the Circumvesuviana to Ercolano Scavi; it's a ten-minute walk downhill to the entrance. The site opens at 8:30 AM — arrive then to reach the fornici before the 10:30 AM crowds gather. First Sundays are free but noticeably busier. The entrance ramp is steep and surfaces are uneven throughout.
The fornici sit below street level, which cuts the wind and concentrates summer heat — temperatures in July and August regularly reach 35–40°C in the open sections. Late February through early March keeps crowds thin and temperatures manageable; October is warmer but still comfortable, and the lower winter light makes the masonry particularly legible.
Where is Boat Sheds (Fornici) on the Ancient Shoreline?
Location
- In Herculaneum
- 40.8051, 14.3480
- Open in Google Maps
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