Antiquarium

Boscoreale

Hidden gemMuseums

Antiquarium, Boscoreale
Mentnafunangann · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The story

The museum that tells of daily life at the foot of Vesuvius before the eruption, among carbonised loaves, farm tools and finds handed back by the ash.

Access

The story

The Antiquarium of Boscoreale, opened in 1991, is a museum dedicated to the environment and daily life in the Vesuvian area before the eruption of AD 79. Beside it stands the Villa Regina, the only Roman rustic villa of the area entirely excavated and reconstructed: a modest farm specialising in the production of wine.

What to see

In the museum, finds on flora, fauna, agriculture and Roman daily life — tools, amphorae, casts of animals; in the Villa Regina, the wine press, the dolia buried for the wine and the structure of the ancient farm. A tale of the Vesuvian countryside of two thousand years ago, different from the great buried cities.

Tips

Museum and villa are visited together, run by the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, and are often included in combined tickets of the Vesuvian area: check hours and arrangements on the official site. It is a quiet stop, ideal to combine with Pompeii or Oplontis.

Frequently asked questions

What is the Antiquarium of Boscoreale?

A museum on the environment and daily life in the Vesuvian area before AD 79, next to the Villa Regina, a Roman rustic villa entirely excavated and dedicated to the production of wine.

What can you see at the Villa Regina?

The structure of a Roman farm with the wine press and the buried dolia for the wine: the only rustic villa of the area entirely reconstructed.

How do you visit it?

Museum and villa are visited together, run by the Archaeological Park of Pompeii; check hours and tickets, often combined, on the official site.

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