The National Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN) has got the most important and richest heritage of italian artworks and artifacts and, for this reason, it is one of the most relevant museum in the world.
In the museum you can admire more than 3000 evidences of priceless value and thousands of objects dated back to stone age or ancient times.
The National Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN) is located in one of the most monumental buildings in the Naples, that is the palace of the Real Museum from 1600 d. C.
The Museum has an expository area of 12.650 square metres and it has 3 main sections:
- Farnese collection (with evidences from Roman Age)
- Pompeii collection (with evidences from Vesuvius area and from Borbonic collection)
- Egyptian collection (it is the second Egyptian collection in Italy, after the one from Turin)
The National Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN) is not only an attraction for tourists visiting Naples since from November 2016 until May 2018 some pieces, artworks, frescos from the MANN will be exported in a tour in USA. The itinerant exhibition will be found in various american cities.
Ticket price
Full Price: Є 15,00
Half Price: Є 2,00
Free of charge: under 18 years old, disabled persons and adults. other conditions
Opening hours
9.00 AM - 7.30 PM
closed on Tuesdays
Address and Contacts
Square "Museo Nazionale", 19 - Naples
Phone. +39 081 4422149
How to reach the Archaeological Museum of Naples
From the Central Station
Metro line 1. Stop Museum, 100 mt walk.
Metro line 2. Stop Piazza Cavour, 100 mt walk.
From the port
Metro line 1. Stop Museo, 100 m walk.
Bus 201 from via Medina to via Cavour;
Bus R1 from via Medina to Piazza Museo.
From the airport
Alibus* to Central Station + Metro (line 1 or 2)
*6:30 am to 11:40 pm (Mon-Fri)
*6:30 am to 11:50 pm (Sat-Sun and public holidays)
By Cumana railway
Stop Montesanto, 10 minutes on foot (follow Via Roma northwards).
By coach
Other terminals 139, 168, c63, 178
By car
Tangenziale, exit Capodimonte. Arrival in about 5 minutes.
Turn left at the toll booth and continue for 2 kilometres on Corso Amedeo di Savoia.
Opening hours of the Archaeological Museum of Naples
The National Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN) is open every day from 9.00 am to 7.30 pm.
The museum is closed on 1 January and 25 December.
It is advisable for visitors to enquire in advance about the TOURING TIMES of the collections (they may vary) by calling the Museum Information Point (+39.081.4422149).
The ticket price
Full price: Є 15,00 (with possible increases in the case of national and international exhibitions).
Concessions: Є 2.00 (for European Union citizens aged between 18 and 25 and 18 apprentice and university lecturers in subjects related to the cultural heritage sector).
Free: Admission is free for European Union citizens under the age of 18.
Admission to the National Archaeological Museum of Naples (MANN) is part of the Artecard della Campania circuit.
The ticket office is open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day except Tuesdays and holidays.
The Works of the Archaeological Museum of Naples
The Underground Works
- Egyptian collection, on display in rooms XVIII-XXIII. This important collection offers numerous testimonies of Egyptian civilisation from the Old Kingdom to the Ptolemaic-Roman period. Inside, you can admire statues, mummies, sarcophagi, funerary monuments, amulets and funerary objects that testify to aspects of daily life, such as mirrors, cosmetic vases, sandals.
- Epigraphic collection, visible in rooms CL-CLV, of more than two thousand documents in Latin and two hundred in Greek. These include laws, decrees, public and private documents that provide insight into the history of Rome, two bronze slabs found between Heraclea and Metapontum and about a hundred documents in the dialects of the Italic peoples.
The Ground Floor works
- Herculaneum decorative ensembles, on display in rooms XLI-XLII. This section will host the paintings detached from the public buildings of Herculaneum, in particular from the Basilica and the Theatre.
- Gems from the Farnese Collection, on display in rooms IX-X. More than two thousand items on display, including the most famous cameo of antiquity: the so-called Farnese Cup.
- Sculptures from the Farnese Collection, on display in rooms I-VIII, XXIV-XXVIII, found during excavations promoted by the Farnese family in Rome
- Roman Sculptures and Portraits from the Farnese Collection, on display in room XXIX, including a colossal portrait of Julius Caesar from the Trajan era, a colossal bust of Vespasian, a bust of Hadrian in armour and a colossal statue of Alexander Severus in heroic nudity.
- Sculptures and Baths of Caracalla from the Farnese Collection can be seen in rooms XI-XVI. Here you can admire part of the colossal sculptural decoration of the Baths of Caracalla, built by Emperor Caracalla and his successors in the 3rd century AD in Rome. The most famous works are the Bull, perhaps the largest sculpture from antiquity, and the Hercules by the Athenian sculptor Glykon.
Sculptures from Roman Campania will be on display in rooms XXXV, XLV. This section is under construction. These sculptures, which date back to the Roman period, were found in the cities of Campania. Among them will be visible the sculptures of the Theatre and the Basilica of Herculaneum, the honorary sculptures of Pompeii, the cult statues of the Capitolium of Cumae and a significant selection of decorative and honorary sculpture from the cities of the Phlegraean Fields.
The Mezzanine Floor Works
- Numismatics Collection, which can be seen in rooms LI-LVI. Here the history of numismatic studies is retraced and there are also the first coins struck in Magna Graecia and some specimens from the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
- Mosaics from the House of the Faun in Pompeii, on display in rooms LX-LXI, LXIII, found in Pompeii between 1830 and 1832. These mosaics constitute one of the most important mosaic complexes of antiquity. The most famous mosaic is the Alexander Mosaic, depicting a battle between Alexander the Great on horseback and Darius III, fleeing in his chariot. Also of great interest is the display of an elegant bronze statuette, called the ‘Dancing Faun’. In addition, in two showcases of room LXIII some goldsmiths’ pieces from the House of the Faun are visible. You can admire some ornaments, a brazier, a bronze warmer and a pair of gold bracelets with the body of a snake.
- Secret Cabinet, visible in rooms LXII, LXV, which includes a series of materials on the erotic theme. Among the most famous examples is the marble group with Pan and a goat, found in the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum.
- Mosaics from rooms LVII-LIX, LXIV, detached from the houses of the Vesuvian cities. They represent one of the richest existing mosaic collections. Among the most refined pieces are the mosaic columns and the mosaic with the motto “Memento mori”, depicting Death who evens out everything, cancelling out the differences between rich and poor.
The First Floor Works
- Salone della Meridiana, one of the most impressive covered halls in Europe, completed in 1804. The hall has a length of 54.80 metres, a width of 20.80 metres and a height of 20.35 metres. The hall takes its name from the sundial, which was built between 1790 and 1793, when it was planned to install the Astronomical Observatory in this large hall; however, the project was soon abandoned due to the unsuitability of the site.
- Collection of Ancient Naples, on display in rooms CXVIII-CXX, which chronologically documents some of the most important finds from Greek and Roman Naples.
- Frescoes from Pompeii, visible in rooms LXVI-LXXVIII.
- Collection of ivory, bone and glazed earthenware, on display in room LXXXVIII. About three thousand specimens are on display, the majority from Pompeii and only a small part from Herculaneum.
- Evidence of the Hellenistic Peoples of Campania, in rooms CXXXVIII-CXLIV. This section is to be set up.
- Collection of artefacts from Magna Graecia, visible in rooms CXXX-CXXXVII, including the lekythos with Heracles in the Garden of the Hesperides.
- An exhibition dedicated to Pithekoussai, visible in rooms CXXIV-CXXV, illustrating the history of the first Greek settlement in the Western Mediterranean.
- Plastic model of Pompeii, scale 1:100, visible in room XCVI. This work represents a valuable document, particularly for the wall and floor decorations, as they are no longer preserved on the original site.
- An exhibition on Prehistory and Protohistory, inaugurated in 1995 and visible in rooms CXXVI-CXXVIII. It documents the various sites in Campania from the Palaeolithic to the Iron Age. Part of this exhibition continues on the second floor, rooms CXLV-CXLIX.
- Bronze ornaments, found in Pompeii and Herculaneum, visible in room LXXXVII.
- Reconstruction of the marvellous furnishings of the Temple of Isis in Pompeii, visible in rooms LXXIX-LXXXII, LXXXIV.
- Glass Collection, on display in rooms LXXXV-LXXXVI. About four thousand pieces are on display, from the excavations of Herculaneum and Pompeii. Of particular note is the famous Blue Vase, a small amphora with Dionysian scenes, made in the technique of glass-camme glass.
- Sculptural decoration of the Villa dei Papiri, one of the largest and most sumptuous Roman residences, visible in rooms CXIV-CXVII.
- Finds from excavations in the area of Cumae on display in rooms CXXI-CXXIII. Among the most important objects is the statue of Diomedes, found in the crypt under the Acropolis. The section is under construction.
- Selection of bronze everyday objects, on display in room LXXXIX.
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