After nearly 500 years of relative dormancy, Vesuvius erupted catastrophically in December 1631, sending lava flows and ash into villages around Naples and killing an estimated 3,000 to 6,000 people. The eruption reawakened Europe's memory of Pompeii's fate and prompted the first systematic scientific observations of the volcano's behavior.
Vesuvius had smoldered quietly since a moderate eruption in 1139, lulling nearby communities into building right up its slopes, cultivating vineyards on soil made rich by old volcanic ash. That complacency shattered on December 16, 1631, when the mountain erupted with tremendous force, and by December 21 lava and pyroclastic flows had destroyed numerous towns, including Torre del Greco and San Sebastiano.
Contemporary accounts describe a black column of ash rising miles into the sky, rivers of boiling mud, and a rain of stones that killed livestock and people fleeing on foot. Spanish viceroy authorities organized one of the first large-scale disaster relief efforts in European history, though it came too late for thousands.
The eruption also had a strange scientific afterlife: naturalists' detailed records of the event, including changes in seawater and gas emissions, laid groundwork for the modern discipline of volcanology, as scholars began trying to systematically understand rather than merely fear the mountain looming over Naples.