After the experimental opening in June 2018 and then permanently from March 2019, the underground route to discover the theatre of ancient Herculaneum represents a unique opportunity in Italy to visit a Roman monument in an exceptional state of conservation and according to an itinerary that repeats the one used since the first travellers from 1739 onwards.
A route already appreciated so far by hundreds of enthusiastic visitors who have literally transformed themselves into explorers with helmets, capes and torches provided by the Park.
As part of the 2019 MiBACT Enhancement Plan, the Ercolano Archaeological Park is pleased to announce that from the first weekend of October until November 17, the theater will be open to visitors on Saturdays and Sundays with three shifts that allow exclusive access to groups of no more than 15 people at a time, accompanied by Park staff who are adequately trained to make this experience truly unique and almost personal. The Ancient Theater of Ercolano has hosted hundreds of visitors in recent months who have been able to take advantage of a real exploration experience.
Guests are welcomed in the rooms that in 1700 and 1800 represented the true and only entrance to the Herculaneum Excavations. The reconstructive model of the theater dating back to 1804 helps to immediately understand the great archaeological adventure you are about to take part in. An unmissable adventure in a place of rare charm to discover this spectacular building dating back to the age of Emperor Augustus in the footsteps of visitors who over the centuries have crossed by torchlight the wells and tunnels created by the engineers of the Bourbon army. These tunnels still amaze today for their accuracy and majesty.
Buried by the eruption of 79 AD and returned to visitors about 20 years after its closure, the theatre was the first monument to be discovered (1738) in the Vesuvian sites hit by that famous cataclysm. Since its discovery, it aroused great interest, during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, on the part of cultured travellers who came to Naples from all over Europe and became a stop on the Grand Tour.
The theater is closely linked to the history of modern Resina, now Ercolano. During the Second World War it was used as a refuge and entered the history and stories of the citizens.
The monument is still accessible today via the stairs built in the Bourbon era, descending more than 20 metres below the eruptive material.
The Director of the Park Francesco Sirano declares “Thanks to the Enhancement Plan promoted by our Ministry, we are expanding the offer of use of the Park and allowing a greater number of people to access a monument that is a milestone of the archaeology of the Roman world, denied to the public for too many years, along an underground path that transports us back through the centuries and makes us protagonists of a discovery that is renewed every time before our astonished eyes. Truly not to be missed!”.
The opening of the Theater is therefore scheduled: on Saturday (starting from October 5th and until November 16th) and on Sunday with three visiting shifts, at 10.00, at 11.00 and at 12.00; also with a shift in English.
Tickets, costing €10 (reduced price of €2 for children between 18 and 25 years old) can be purchased online, on the website www.ticketone.it, with a €1,5 commission, or at the Park ticket office at no additional cost. Access is reserved for adults and is subject to limitations for users with motor difficulties and non-ambulatory, or with pathologies that can be influenced by the visit context; not suitable for claustrophobics.
Before purchasing tickets, please call 081 77 77 008.
A day among Roman streets, frescoed houses, and unique artifacts, without paying an admission fee. On Sunday, February 1st, the Herculaneum Archaeological Park is participating in "domenicalmuseo," the Ministry of Culture's initiative that opens state museums and archaeological parks to the public free of charge every first Sunday of the month.
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