NAPLES: ARCHAEOLOGICAL MUSEUM & RIONE SANITA’

Naples’ Archaeological Museum is one the world’s finest collections of Graeco-Roman artifacts. Originally a cavalry barracks and later the city’s university, the museum was established by the Bourbon king Charles VII (also founder of the Capodimonte Palace) and by his son Ferdinand in the late 18th century to house the priceless collection of antiquities he had inherited from his mother, Elisabetta Farnese, as well as treasures that, always thanks to Charles, had been excavated from Pompeii and Herculaneum.

The museum also contains the Borgia collection of Etruscan and Egyptian art. It is an absolute must if you are a history lover.

While the basement houses the Borgia collection of Egyptian relics and epigraphs, the ground floor hosts the Farnese collection of Greek and Roman sculpture. An awe-inspiring hall where you’ll feel small and insignificant in front of the majestic and perfectly restored statues excavated in Rome during the 16th century. They were brought to Naples in the 18th century.

The two must-sees are the colossal Farnese Bull, found in Rome in 1545 and restored by Michelangelo, and the Farnese Hercules, representing the exhausted hero resting on his club.

On the mezzanine floor we’ll admire a superb collection of mosaics, arriving mostly from the House of the Faun in Pompeii. A delightful collection of well-preserved portraits, animal scenes, geometries, and dulcis in fundo, the Battle of Alexander against Darius mosaic floor.

Past the mosaics is the ‘Gabinetto Segreto’ (Secret Room), always crowded, displaying a variety of erotic scenes – found mostly in Pompeii’s brothels, and a funny collection of very explicit statues. Your guide will tell you the story of this intriguing ‘prohibited’ art collection.

The first floor is mostly dedicated to Pompeii, Herculaneum, Cuma, and Stabiae. Preserved under layers of ashes after the Vesuvius’ eruption in 79 A.D., a myriad of objects of any kind gives us an extraordinary insight into everyday life in Ancient Rome. If you just visited Pompeii and/or the other towns, or if you’re planning to do it during the following days, the visit to the Archaeological Museum of Naples is a must and will help you to bring that world back to life.

We’ll also admire the spectacular and bright Hall of the Sundial, planned in 1791 to be the seat of an astronomical observatory. One of the largest covered halls in Europe.

After an intense museum tour like this we believe that a stroll into Rione Sanità might be a refreshing change of atmosphere and bring us back to the lively scene of today’s Naples.

The Rione Sanità epitomizes the contradictions of Naples. On one hand, it is rich in history, art, beautiful palaces such as the renown Palazzo dello Spagnuolo and Palazzo San Felice, a variety of charming churches, a famous cemetery rich of legends, on the other, it is now one of the most popular central Naples ‘neighborhoods, dealing with problems of poverty and social discomfort (safe enough for out tour, however).

Your guide will sketch for you the history, traditions, superstitions at the heart of the Sanita’ quarter, which is now being gentrified,