It rises to two cones, the higher at 1,277 metres. Its foothill towns are interesting in themselves: Portici’s Bourbon palace, now part of Naples University; Boscotrecase’s Lacrima Cristi, the wine of Vesuvius; Torre del Greco, manufacturing centre for pasta, straw hats and pink coral souvenirs. Roads end at 400 metres from the summit, then you walk. The crater is closed periodically while controlled explosions, begun in 1996, are carried out to determine the likelihood of future eruptions.