Fin since its founding, in 1841, the Vesuvius Observatory has been a destination not only for scholars but also for local and foreign visitors. Around 1970, following the construction slightly downstream of a building more suited to the needs of modern research, the so-called historical headquarters naturally became the place destined for the preservation of valuable mineralogical, instrumental, and artistic collections, as well as a rich historical library. The Museum hosts a permanent exhibition that leads the visitor through a fascinating journey into the world of volcanoes. It starts with the description of the various types of eruptions and their dangers, arriving at the real-time observation of seismic and geochemical data recorded by the Vesuvius Observatory monitoring network. All this with the help of films, illustrations, collections of rocks and minerals, historical instruments, books, and paintings. The Museum houses ancient scientific instruments used by scientists and researchers over the centuries, some of which are of exceptional historical importance, such as Luigi Palmieri’s seismograph. Part of these instruments is displayed in the Mercalli and Wiechert rooms of the Exhibition. Since 2009, the service building constructed in the 1970s, after the transfer to Naples of the monitoring room and research staff, has hosted the exhibition “Volcanic – multimedia journey into the world of volcanoes.” Through explanatory panels on Italian volcanoes, audiovisual contributions, a multimedia table, and a small 3D film projection room, the exhibition guides the visitor through Italy’s active volcanoes, their dangers, and the monitoring techniques applied to surveillance of eruption precursor phenomena.
Information about the Vesuvius Observatory Museum
Via dell’Osservatorio snc,
80026 Ercolano (Naples)
0816108483
info@ov.ingv.it
https://www.ov.ingv.it
Source: MIBACT
