MUSEO ARCHEOLOGICO VIRTUALE

The MAV is a center of culture and technology applied to cultural heritage and communication among the most advanced in Italy. A virtual and interactive trip back in time, just before the Plinian eruption in 79 AD that destroyed the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.            

With more than seventy multimedia installations, life and splendor have been restored to the archaeological sites of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Baia, Stabiae and Capri.

The museum is located on an area of 5,000 m.q. divided on 3 levels and situated in the heart of Herculaneum. It is near the main tourist attractions: the archeological excavations, the famous vintage market of Resina, the National Park of Vesuvius and the Golden Mile, the stretch of coast at the foot of the volcano along which you may see the beautiful eighteenth-century villas, fine examples of Neapolitan baroque.

The journey begins after having passed through a sort of ancestral door which dematerializes bodies leading to the discovery of names and faces of ancient Herculaneum, across which you become aware of the community’s history and their lifestyle.
Going along the Bourbon tunnels, you can take a glimpse at the magnificent Villa of the Papyri. A passage through a glowing cloud acts as a prelude to the exploration of houses and monuments of the ancient Vesuvian cities displayed in their entire splendor.

Continuing the journey, you enter the Villa of the Papyri library, which restitutes fragments and thoughts of philosophers and poets of Herculaneum. Amongst voices, images and market rumors we move into an environment with an interactive table, which at the touch of a finger, illustrates and describes the customs of people who lived in the area.
A dark corner that lights up leads you among the most beautiful Vesuvian frescoes, details which can be zoomed and analyzed in detail.

The practice of leisure and the search for pleasure both belong to the Roman world: the paintings found in the brothels and the central thermal baths are an important testimony of ancient Pompeii.

Pompeii’s Forum, the city’s vital center, suggests to the visitor a synthesis of the transformation of places over the last 2000 years.

Together with the theatre, the “Schola Armaturarum” (a military training place in Pompeii for young men), introduces to an excitement lived through an immersive experience, the eruption of the Vesuvius on August 24th 79 AD.

The MAV is a place of knowledge and learning, where the real and the imaginary come together to create new ways of learning and entertainment.