The medieval town of Resina (IPA: [reˈziːna]) was built on the volcanic material left by the eruption of Vesuvius (79 AD) that destroyed the ancient city of Herculaneum, from which the present name is derived.

Restoration projects were still ongoing at that time and were cut short on 24 August AD 79, when Vesuvius violently erupted and completely buried the small city under thick layers of hot volcanic debris.

Unlike neighboring Pompeii, which was buried under pumice and fine ash, the citizens of Herculaneum died of severe thermal shock from successions of superheated pyroclastic surges and lava flows.

In the Basilica di Santa Maria a Pugliano are two early Christian marble sarcophagi from the 2nd and 4th centuries AD which give evidence of habitation on the site of the buried Herculaneum.

In 1418 Queen Joanna II of Naples granted the Università (villages with local governments) of Torre del Greco, Resina, Portici and Cremano to her favourite Sergianni Caracciolo and later to Antonio Carafa.

Resina's main industries were agriculture, fishing (including the collecting of corals, an activity performed alongside the inhabitants of Torre del Greco),[4] and the cutting and carving of volcanic stone.

In 1709 Emmanuel Maurice, Duke of Elbeuf was constructing a residence on the Italian coast at Portici when he heard about a man who had discovered ancient marble sculptures and columns while digging a well in the nearby town of Resina.

As the discovery of ancient Herculaneum became known around Europe, impetus was given to the Western cultural movement known as Neoclassicism and to the custom among the British and European upper-class of taking of the Grand Tour.

To celebrate the return of King Ferdinand IV of Naples against the "atheist" and pro-French republic, the inhabitants of Resina constructed a chapel of thanksgiving with a crucifix on the spot that replaced the republican Tree of Freedom.

During the kingdom of Joachim Murat Villa Favorita still was used for parties and celebrations held by the king and the winding and narrow leg of the Strada Regia delle Calabrie in Resina was straightened and widened throughout the town centre.

Nevertheless, Resina remained an agricultural town, celebrated for its fruit and healthy air and was the well-known destination for the visits to the underground Theatre of Herculaneum and the ascension to the crater of Mount Vesuvius.

Since 1904 the Circumvesuviana railway operated from Naples to Castellammare di Stabia with a station in Resina-Pugliano, close to the Basilica of Santa Maria a Pugliano and the funicular to Mount Vesuvius.

Among the famous people who lived or used to frequent the town have to be mentioned: the poet and writer Gabriele D’Annunzio, the scientist Arnaldo Cantani, the former Khedive of Egypt Isma’il Pasha, who opened the Suez Canal and lived six years (1879–1885) during his exile in Villa Favorita, the Italian prime minister Antonio Salandra, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Carlo Sforza, King Gustav VI of Sweden, amateur archaeologist.

To these ones hundreds of artists, scholars, historians, scientists, kings, Roman popes, presidents, prime ministers, ambassadors, politicians, and other celebrities came to Resina to visit the underground theatre and the archaeological site of Herculaneum and Mount Vesuvius.

In 1995 the Parco Nazionale del Vesuvio (Mt.Vesuvius National Park) was created and all the area of Ercolano north of motorway is included in the Park; in 1997 the Archaeological site of Herculaneum was listed in the UNESCO World Heritage together with Pompeii and Oplonti and Mount Vesuvius and the Miglio d'Oro were included in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves under the Unesco's Man and Biosphere Reserve Programme; in 2005 the MAV (Virtual Archeologic Museum) was opened and the open-air permanent exhibition Creator Vesevo was inaugurated with 10 stone sculptures of contemporary famous international artists lined up along the street heading to Mount Vesuvius crater.

A new entrance was recently opened at the eastern side of the archaeological site with a large parking area for cars and buses, souvenir stands, and public gardens.

The Miglio d’Oro is the leg of Corso Resina ( the old Strada Regia per le Calabrie) in Ercolano from the Archeological Site of Herculaneum leading to Torre del Greco where are lined the largest, the finest and the most sumptuous villas designed by the best architects of that time and built in the 18th century by the noble families of the Kingdom of Naples around the Royal Palace of Portici.

Although the expression Miglio d'Oro was created in the 19th century to highlight the splendor of the buildings along the leg of old Strada Regia per le Calabrie in Ercolano (Resina) and the beginning of Torre del Greco, it was recently and inappropriately expanded to a broader area where the 121 villas of the 18th century listed by the Ente per le Ville Vesuviane were built; this area includes the Neapolitan quarters of Barra, San Giovanni a Teduccio and Ponticelli, and the towns of San Giorgio a Cremano, Portici and the whole territory of Torre del Greco.

Despite its austere and simple façade on the street, the internal side facing the sea opens on a magnificent elliptic exedra with a continuous arcade that also functions as belvedere towards the bay of Naples.

While living there, the second son of the King, Leopoldo of Bourbon, enlarged the palace and built some pavilions for entertainment and recreation such as the Casino of Mosaics (so called after its interior decoration with a coloured patchwork of mother-of-pearl and porcelain scraps), the Montagne Russe (wooden switchback), two twin coffeehouses on the pier as well as balancoires and bandstands.

Between 1818 and following years the new owner, the niece of the Duke Riario Sforza, transformed the building by elevating the second floor and the woods giving the ultimate shape: the splendid fountain of Prometheus, little temples, statues, fake ruins and Roman columns, an alpine chalet with a water-lily pond, grotto and spring.

It is an ideal destination for families and students and is centrally located in Via IV Novembre on the way from the Circumvesuviana train station to the northern entrance of the Archeological site from town centre.

After years of complete neglect, at the beginning of the new century the Town Council totally restored it and converted into multi-purpose cultural centre, including the museum, a bookshop and a 300-seat theatre.

The territory of the National Park includes Mount Vesuvius and the surrounding Monte Somma, a section of the older and greater volcanic structure (the caldera) that remained intact after the plinian eruption that buried Herculaneum, Pompeii, Stabiae and Oplontis in AD 79.

[11] Nowadays, the Osservatorio Vesuviano is an important section of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, where the main Campanian volcanic structures are continuously monitored with multiparametric sensor networks.

In addition there is the Creator Vesevo, alongside the street leading to Mt.Vesuvius, an open air permanent exhibition of stone sculptures created by famous international artists in 2005.

Agriculture was spread all over the town district up to the slopes of Mount Vesuvius and enjoyed the mild weather and the fertility of the volcanic soil that made the Vesuvian yields excellent all the time.

After World War II the textile industry flourished around the business of Pugliano street market as well as the nursery gardening mostly on the coastal land that is more suitable for growing flowers and seeds.

The need of large facilities for the expanding textile industry clashed against the programs of environment and volcanic prevention and forced many entrepreneurs of Ercolano to move to less-restricted areas of Campania region.

Tourism is not a main item of local income, notwithstanding of several accommodating facilities, because the archaeological site of Herculaneum and Mount Vesuvius are a spot destination for tourists who stay in Naples or Sorrento.