[Credit: Carole Raddato/Flickr]
The extra sites include the house of Julia Felix, an extravagant ancient spa, the Little House of the Orchard, which is home to colourful frescoes, and the gardens of the House of Venus in the Shell.
Tourists will also be able to see some human casts, shown for the first time, and an exhibition of Egyptian art and statues, called 'Egypt Pompeii', from mid-April.
New routes around the site will also be opened, allowing access to these new areas and also ensuring that the usual routes do not get worn out by the three million visitors who come to Pompeii each year.
Concerns were raised at a press conference last weekend when a Unesco representative blamed cruise tourists in particular for "ruining" the ancient city, which was buried when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD.
The area open to the public will now cover 22 hectares - half of the excavated area.
"There have never been such vast possibilities for visiting Pompeii," Massimo Osanna, Superintendent of Pompeii, was quoted by Ansa as saying.
Source: The Local [February 26, 2016]