If Pompeii was such a popular holiday destination 2,000 years ago, how come it was completely lost until it's rediscovery? | AskHistorians Archive Observer

If Pompeii was such a popular holiday destination 2,000 years ago, how come it was completely lost until it's rediscovery?

by lewistronzo

Weren't the people of Naples or surrounding areas at all curious what happened to the people who were in Pompeii? Didn't anyone attempt to dig up the ash after, say, a year and bury the bodies/loot the town?

Searocksandtrees

Hi, you may be interested in this earlier answer by /u/Alkibiades415

Prior to Pompeii being rediscovered in 1748, did historians of the day or locals living nearby know of Pompeii and that it had been destroyed by a volcano, or had time erased the memory of it?