The Museum, housed in the prestigious building that was once a convent of the Canossians, designated by the Municipal Administration as an exhibition venue after restoration, offers the public, through a broad and well-curated selection of archaeological materials, the history of the Nola territory. The visit path begins with the prehistoric section, outlined by a thematic route – In the first room, the volcanic activity of Somma-Vesuvius is illustrated, outlined through different eruptive types, with particular emphasis on those that impacted the history of the Nola area, such as the eruption of the “Avellino Pumices” during the Bronze Age, and the so-called Pollena eruption for the late antique period. In the subsequent rooms, finds from the Early Bronze Age characterizing the Palma Campania facies are exhibited, along with materials that testify to the effects of the Avellino Pumices eruption, whose pyroclastic deposits buried the villages in the area. The exhibit also highlights the results of anthropological investigations with the support of educational panels and facial reconstructions of three individuals found within burials. Furthermore, one of the huts discovered during the excavation of the settlement at Croce del Papa in Nola has been reconstructed: inside a life-size wooden structure reproducing the original arrangement of furnishings and spaces, some of the recovered artifacts still intact have been placed. Following the prehistoric section is one dedicated to the origins of Nola, covering a chronological span from the 8th to the 6th century BC. Here are displayed burial goods from the end of the 7th and beginning of the 6th centuries BC, coming from necropolises located in Torricelle and via San Massimo, indicating the Etruscan influence on the Nola community, alongside Greek-produced pottery linked to wine consumption during symposia, typical of the aristocratic lifestyle. Next are the rooms dedicated to the “City of Knights,” referring to the period between the 6th and 4th centuries BC. The exhibition introduces, with didactic panels, the knowledge of the Samnite people whose presence in Campania was established during the second half of the 5th century BC. Numerous testimonies from this period come from excavations conducted in the Nola territory between the 18th and 19th centuries. Among these, notable are Athenian red-figure and black-figure vases decorated with mythological scenes: for example, two Attic red-figure amphorae by the Alkimachos Painter and the so-called Berlin Painter, respectively, and a column-krater decorated in red-figure style attributed to the so-called Naples Painter. A key highlight of this section is the painted box and semicamera tombs arranged in the center of the room, where a large life-size giant photo of the “Tomb of the Knight” has also been placed, showing the original layout of the painted slabs. The box tombs from the territory of Casamarciano are reconstructed on site, including the so-called Tomb of the Togati and the Tomb of the Dancer. The museum path continues with the last testimonies related to the Oscan presence; this covers the period from the Roman conquest of the city (313-312 BC) up to the outbreak of the Social War (90-88 BC). Among the exhibited artifacts, some come from sanctuaries found in Cimitile and San Paolo Belsito, both evidencing architectural currents of Asia Minor origin. Then follows the section dedicated to the period of Roman rule, with statues that adorned some tombs, various funerary reliefs including those from the city’s amphitheater, as well as a series of epigraphic testimonies. The visit path continues on the first floor of the complex with the illustration of imperial age evidence, culminating in a room entirely dedicated to the so-called Villa of Augustus found in Somma Vesuviana. The exhibition concludes with a section dedicated to the end of the ancient world and the medieval age, starting with the evocative complex of the early Christian basilicas of Cimitile, and extending to the modern period, thus providing a comprehensive reading and enhancement tool for the monuments and artworks, equally important, attested in these epochs in the Nola area.
Information about the Historical Archaeological Museum of Nola
Via Senatore Cocozza, 2
80035 Nola (Naples)
+39.081.5127184
pm-cam.nola@beniculturali.it
www.polomusealecampania.beniculturali.it
Source: MIBACT
