Mount Vesuvius (/vᵻˈsuːviəs/; Italian:Monte Vesuvio[ˈmonte veˈzuːvjo], Latin:Mons Vesuvius[mõːs wɛˈsʊwɪ.ʊs]) is a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, about 9km (5.6mi) east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of several volcanoes which form the Campanian volcanic arc. Vesuvius consists of a large cone partially encircled by the steep rim of a summit caldera caused by the collapse of an earlier and originally much higher structure.
a volcano in southwestern Italy on the Mediterranean coast; a Plinian eruption in 79 AD buried Pompeii and killed Pliny the Elder; last erupted in 1944