- TURY.CLUB
- Tourist Objects
- Italy
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- National Museum of Archeology of Naples
The National Museum of Archeology is located in a building that was built for the University of Naples in the early seventeenth century. It was later reconstructed and housed here by the Royal Library and the Bourbon Museum, and it was not until the end of the nineteenth century that the building was transferred to the National Museum of Archeology after the unique collection of coins and objects of the Farnese family was moved here, as well as objects found during excavations of the cities when then surrounding Vesuvius.
Today, the National Museum of Archeology of Naples owns one of the most extensive and unique world collections of ancient artifacts. The greatest value of the collection are archaeological finds discovered in Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabia - cities destroyed by Vesuvius in the first century AD. The exposition of marble and bronze antique sculptures occupies fifteen of the forty halls of the museum's first floor. Of particular interest are the statues of Aphrodite, Venus, Heracles presented here, the famous Spear-bearer, the largest antique sculptural composition of the Farnesian Bull and Farnesian Hercules. The collections of mosaics and frescoes are almost entirely made up of artifacts found in excavations of cities destroyed by lava. The most notable exhibits are mosaics from the House of Faun in Pompeii, including “The Battle of Alexander the Great with Darius”. The collection of coins and medals occupies 6 halls and consists of 200 thousand exhibits discovered during excavations in Campania and in the south of Italy. Collections of antique coins of Greece and Rome and coins from the Middle Ages to the era of the Bourbons are presented in separate rooms. The exposition of jewelry presented at the museum includes both antique objects made of precious stones and metals, as well as objects of the Renaissance. The most significant exhibit is a sardonyx cameo dating back to 150 BC. In the halls of the archaeological museum you can see a collection of gladiatorial weapons, wall paintings, cult objects, marble, bronze and terracotta statues from the Temple of Isis in Pompeii, household items from Pompeii and Herculaneum made of silver, ivory, glass and glazed clay. Special mention is deserved by the oldest museum of erotic art in the world - the Secret Cabinet, which contains objects found in scandalous excavations in Pompeii and Herculaneum at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The collection of the Secret Cabinet, founded in 1819, contains frescoes, reliefs, plates with texts, figurines and other objects of an erotic and pornographic nature. For a long time the collection was available for viewing only a narrow circle of people. The Secret Cabinet was opened several times to the public, but always for a short time. Since 2000, this exposition has been open for public inspection.
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