The Ancient Roman archaeological site of Pompeii has announced it will apply a cap on daily visitors after receiving record numbers in recent years. Olivia Palamountain reports

Pompeii Archaeological Park will limit daily visitors to 20,000 from November 15, following a surge in tourism that saw 36,000 people visit on a single day in October.

Nearly four million people visited the main Pompeii site in 2023, a third more than the previous year. Visitor counts had been climbing in the run up to the pandemic and in 2023 were above pre-Covid levels.

In October 2024, there were more than 480,000 visitors, putting the average at about 15,500 a day. The busiest month so far this year was May, when about 517,000 people visited, or some 16,700 a day.

The 20,000 cap is likely to only lead to tourists being turned away on a handful of occasions. A spokesperson for the park told Reuters that it had only exceeded 20,000 visitors when entry is free on the first Sunday of the month, as well as three or four fee-paying days.

As reported by The Independent, the park's director Gabriel Zuchtriegel said: "We are working on a series of projects to lift the human pressure on the site, which could pose risks both for visitors and the heritage that is so unique and fragile."

The park's management is also trying to attract more tourists to visit other ancient sites connected to Pompeii by a free shuttle bus under the "Greater Pompeii" project, including Stabia, Torre Annunziata and Boscoreale sites.

"The measures to manage flows and safety and the personalisation of the visits are part of this strategy," Mr Zuchtriegel said.

"We are aiming for slow, sustainable, pleasant and non-mass tourism and above all widespread throughout the territory around the Unesco site, which is full of cultural jewels to discover," he added.

The city was devastated by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79, which preserved swathes of it almost intact under a layer of ash for over 1,000 years.

About a third of the site has yet to be excavated. It continues to be of huge interest to archaeologists, providing the most complete picture of daily Roman life anywhere in the world.

Earlier this year, archaeologists revealed frescoes of mythical Greek figures including Helen of Troy and Apollo. The artworks were found in a banqueting hall with dramatic black walls and a mosaic floor made of more than 1 million white tiles.

Entry tickets to Pompeii start at €18 (£14.90; $19.30).