EditorialHerculaneum, street with stepping stones. Streets were usually paved with basalt stones; since there was no sewage system, roads were flooded during rainy periods and lava stepping stones were laid for pedestrians to cross.
EditorialThe Spanish island of Lanzarote was conquered by Jean de Bethencourt in 1402 and presented to the King of Castile, Henry III. In 1730 a massive volcanic eruption covered one third of the island with lava. La Gera, a plain covered with " picon"...
EditorialLava landscape on the slopes of Mount Aetna,Sicily. Smokeholes in the lava may have inspired the myth of the Cyclops Polyphem,the one-eyed giant of the Odyssee and of Ovid's metamorphoses.
EditorialStreet in Pompeii, paved with basalt slabs, bordered by high sidewalks. Cart marks left and right; huge lava blocks placed in the center of the road permitted walkers to cross when streets without canalization were flooded.