The Archaeological Museum of Castellammare di Stabia was inaugurated on September 24, 2020, in the historic rooms of the Quisisana Palace, a new museum space dedicated to the exhibition of numerous and prestigious finds from the Stabia area. The Museum is named after Libero D’Orsi who in the 1950s undertook the rediscovery of the Stabian Villas, already partially investigated in the Bourbon period.

Numerous finds on display, some never before exhibited in Italy, including frescoes, floors in opus sectile, stuccos, sculptures, terracotta, tableware, bronze and iron objects.

The museum’s exhibition itinerary, whose scientific project is curated by the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, aims to offer an overall picture of Stabiae and Ager Stabianus from the Archaic age to the eruption of 79 AD. The first rooms are dedicated to the history of the Quisisana Palace and archaeological research, with particular attention to the Bourbon excavations and those of Libero D’Orsi.

We continue with pre-Roman Stabiae, illustrated by votive materials from the sanctuary in Privati ​​(mid-4th-late 2nd century BC), referable to the cult of a female divinity, and by funerary items from the archaic necropolis of Via Madonna delle Grazie (from the second half from the VII century BC to the end of the III century BC).

The Roman period, up to 79 AD, is instead reconstructed through a chronological and topographical exhibition criterion, with some thematic insights.

In the area of ​​today’s Castellammare di Stabia (Stabiae) there were, in Roman times, numerous otium villas in a panoramic position, conceived mainly for residential purposes, with large living quarters, spa facilities, arcades and beautifully decorated nymphaeums.

The path of this historical phase begins with the famous villas built on the Varano plateau, of which the extraordinary decorative elements (in particular frescoes and sculptures) are presented: from Villa San Marco to Villa del Pastore, from the Second Complex to Villa Arianna. The first rooms are dedicated to the history of the Quisisana Palace and archaeological research, with particular attention to the Bourbon excavations and those of Libero D’Orsi.

We continue with pre-Roman Stabiae, illustrated by votive materials from the sanctuary in Privati ​​(mid-4th-late 2nd century BC), referable to the cult of a female divinity, and by funerary items from the archaic necropolis of Via Madonna delle Grazie (from the second half from the VII century BC to the end of the III century BC).

The Roman period, up to 79 AD, is instead reconstructed through a chronological and topographical exhibition criterion, with some thematic insights.

In the area of ​​today’s Castellammare di Stabia (Stabiae) there were, in Roman times, numerous otium villas in a panoramic position, conceived mainly for residential purposes, with large living quarters, spa facilities, arcades and beautifully decorated nymphaeums.

The path of this historical phase begins with the famous villas built on the Varano plateau, of which the extraordinary decorative elements (in particular frescoes and sculptures) are presented: from Villa San Marco to Villa del Pastore, from the Second Complex to Villa Arianna. train: Circumvesuviana Naples-Sorrento (Castellammare di Stabia stop), head towards Piazza Giovanni XXIII + Line 5 (Salita Quisisana stop)

car: A3 Napoli-Salerno motorway (Castellammare di Stabia exit), take the SS145 for 8.5 km (second Castellammare di Stabia exit), continue straight on viale Europa, viale delle Puglie and via Panoramica. Turn left on viale Ippocastani (Quisisana climb)

The Royal Palace of Quisisana, in Castellammare di Stabia, was built in the 13th century by the Angevin kings as a holiday and health resort, but it was only with the interventions carried out by Charles III of Bourbon between 1765 and 1790 that the building took on the current appearance. The complex, which reflected the idea of ​​the “hunting and holiday palace”, has an L-shaped structure so as to enjoy on one side a splendid view of the gulf and on the other to be better connected to Castellammare.

In the following period, the park was also modernized and enlarged on the models of the English garden with large avenues, stairs, fountains and water features that scenically exploited both the rich vegetation of the slopes of Mount Faito and the water sources. The fame of the Palace was such that it attracted many travelers and foreign personalities to stay in the area and its splendor is testified to by the watercolors and engravings by Hackert and Dahl as well as by the views of the Posilippo School.

After a few decades of neglect, the building was the subject of a major restoration at the beginning of 2000, which was completed in 2009 and which has restored its former glory. Today the complex is at the center of a major enhancement project under the direction of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii which has made it home to the museum dedicated to the rich Roman villas of Castellammare di Stabia and where the magnificent frescoes and finds previously preserved in the Antiquarium.

The building will also host a large deposit that can be visited to let the public enter the “heart” of the museum itself and at the same time to house the new findings of scientific research that have been restarted in the territory.

The site is owned by the Municipality of Castellammare di Stabia, which has granted part of the building on loan for use to the Archaeological Park of Pompeii for its institutional purposes.

Loading Maps

6

Reggia di Quisisana serale con guida e pick up

0 user booked

From €20,00

Book NowClose