Underwood & Underwood stereograph from 1897 entitled: "Steelyards and scales found at Pompeii, National Museum, Naples, Italy, room of small bronzes." The city of Pompeii was an ancient Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area, was mostly destroyed and buried under 13 to 20 feet ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Researchers believe that the town was founded in the seventh or sixth century BC by the Osci or Oscans and was captured by the Romans in 80 BC. By the time of its destruction, 160 years later, its population was probably approximately 20,000, and the city had a complex water system, an amphitheater, gymnasium and a port. Pompeii has been a tourist destination for over 250 years. Today it has UNESCO World Heritage Site status and is one of the most popular tourist attractions of Italy, with approximately 2.5 million visitors every year.