Herculaneum museum: the virtual archeological museum

In the important archaeological park along the coast that goes from Naples to Castellammare di Stabia, the two most important archaeological cities are certainly Pompeii  and Ercolano , UNESCO world heritage sites, which allow us to see what the ancient Roman life was like, suddenly stopped with that tragic eruption and admiring millennial houses, temples, shops, cafes, amphitheaters and spas.

Before visiting the excavations of Ercolano or if it is the first time you visit this city, we advise you not to miss the visit to the amazing herculaneum museum MAV, a place of knowledge and learning where real and imaginary come together to make people learn in new ways and engaging history.

Herculaneum museum MAV

Herculaneum museum MAV (Virtual Archaeological Museum) is located on an area of 5000 square meters on three levels in the city center, a few steps from the Archaeological excavations of Herculaneum and is an authentic center of culture and technology; here in fact it is possible, through virtual reality, to travel through time up to 79 AD , just before the fatal eruption of Vesuvius.

With over 70 multimedia installations, in the herculaneum museum MAV you can take an interactive tour of the archaeological sites of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae, Baia and Capri, learning a lot through a multisensory 3D experience.

MAV: the tour

The journey in the Herculaneum museum MAV begins after having crossed an "ancestral gate" that dematerializes the bodies, leading you to discover the names and faces of ancient Herculaneum, thus knowing the history of the community and its lifestyle.

You will then be taken to the Bourbon tunnels, to take a look at the magnificent Villa dei Papiri, which probably belonged to Lucio Calpurnio Pisone Cesonino. You will then pass through a bright cloud to get to explore houses and monuments of the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae, Baia and Capri, shown in all their splendor.

The journey then continues and you will enter the Villa of the Papyrus Library, which returns fragments and thoughts of philosophers and poets of Herculaneum, still under study. From here you will then be brought to the market, of which you will hear the voices and live all its liveliness through an environment with an interactive touch-sceen table, which will from time to time illustrate the customs of the people who lived in the area.

You will then be led into a dark corner that lights up to lead you to the most beautiful Vesuvian frescoes, of which you can enlarge every detail to see them better, including the paintings found in the brothels and in the thermal baths of ancient Pompeii, shows how much the Romans held to the pursuit of pleasure and the practice of leisure time.

Finally you will move to the Forum of Pompeii, the vital center of the city, where you will see its transformations over the last 2000 years and the "Schola Armaturarum" (military training place in Pompeii for young men), which will then introduce the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D.