ITINERARY 4: Virtual Archaeological Museum - Archaeological Park - Villa Campolieto

Just a stone's throw from the archaeological excavations of ancient Herculaneum stands the MAV, a center of culture and technology applied to cultural heritage and communication that is among the most advanced in Italy. Inside is a unique and extraordinary museum space: a virtual and interactive path where you can experience the thrill of an amazing journey back in time to a moment before the Plinian eruption of 79 AD destroyed the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

It was 1738 when Charles of Bourbon and Mariamalia of Saxony, chose Portici to build a new royal palace and to begin excavations of the city of Herculaneum. From that moment on, all Neapolitan nobles followed the Bourbon court and erected in the coastal area at the foot of Vesuvius, one or more villas for the summer period, creating an architectural complex unique in the world in terms of quantity and beauty: the 122 Vesuvian Villas, a dialogue between nature and artifice, rococo and neoclassicism. In the area between the borders of the municipality of Herculaneum, the concentration of Vesuvian Villas is dense and of particular prestige, so much so that the stretch of road that sees them in succession is called the Golden Mile: buildings constructed by architects such as Luigi Vanvitelli, Ferdinando Fuga, Ferdinando San Felice, and Domenico Antonio Vaccaro, complemented by vast gardens that lapped the coast and pictorial decorations created by great artists. With the aim of preserving and safeguarding this conspicuous heritage, State Law No. 578 established on July 29, 1971 the Vesuvian Villas Board, now the Foundation.