Museo dell'Osservatorio Vesuviano
Ercolano
Hidden gemHistory & archaeology
The story
The oldest volcanological observatory in the world, willed by the Bourbons in 1841, with historic instruments and mineral collections, looking out over the slopes of Vesuvius.
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More gems in Ercolano
History & archaeologyScavi di Ercolano
Ercolano
A Roman town petrified by volcanic mud, with wooden beams, beds and doors still in place: here time stopped more intact than anywhere.
VolcanoesVesuvio — Gran Cono
Ercolano
The last stretch climbs on foot over the scree to the rim of the crater, where the warm breath of the earth mixes with the view of the whole Gulf of Naples.
- History & archaeology
Miglio d'Oro e Ville Vesuviane (Villa Campolieto)
Ercolano
The eighteenth-century residences of the Neapolitan nobility along the Miglio d'Oro, with Villa Campolieto and its elliptical portico facing the sea among stuccoes and gardens.
- Hiking
Salita al Gran Cono del Vesuvio (da Quota 1000)
Ercolano (NA)
From Quota 1000 the trail climbs the ash up to the rim of the Gran Cono, where the smoking crater opens up and below stretches the whole gulf of Naples.
More gems: History & archaeology
History & archaeologyStatua del Nilo ("Corpo di Napoli")
Largo Corpo di Napoli
A river god reclining for centuries in a quiet square, whom Neapolitans call the Corpo di Napoli: he leans his bearded head among putti and a sphinx.
History & archaeologyCappella Pontano
Decumani
A small Renaissance temple on the decumanus, which the humanist Pontano had raised for his lost wife, still lined inside with Latin inscriptions dictated by his grief.
- History & archaeology
Sedile di Nilo
Decumani
On the corner of a small Spaccanapoli square survives the seat of the old Nilo quarter, where the nobles once gathered before the sedili of Naples vanished.
History & archaeologyPort'Alba
Napoli
A seventeenth-century arch cut into the walls leads to the booksellers' street, where stalls of second-hand volumes pile up among yellowed pages and the shade of the old city.
History & archaeologyPorta Capuana
zona Garibaldi
Between two cylindrical towers an arch of white marble opens like a Renaissance triumph, the old city gate facing the road to Capua.
- History & archaeology
MANN — Museo Archeologico Nazionale
P.za Museo
One of the world's great archaeological museums: here the Toro Farnese, the mosaics of Pompeii and the Gabinetto Segreto tell the whole ancient Mediterranean in a single visit.