Naples Archaeological Museum

How to Complete

3 steps curated by Wine Memories

1. 📜 1

   Find the 40,000 Pompeii Objects Vesuvius Preserved

   history $$

   Vesuvius didn't destroy Pompeii. It flash-froze it. Everything came here.

   MANN holds the world's largest collection of classical archaeology - including 40,000 objects from Pompeii alone. Carbonized bread loaves still in baking pans, bronze surgical instruments, and most relevant: mosaic symposium scenes, wine vessels, tavern shop fronts with price lists still painted on walls. Pompeii had 200+ wine bars (thermopolia) for 11,000 people - one per 55 residents. Visit Museo Archeologico Nazionale (Piazza Museo 19), open Tue-Sun 9am-7:30pm. Ask at entrance for floor plan, locate the Pompeii sections, find any symposium mosaic or bronze wine vessels from domestic contexts.

   🔄 BACKUP: The Secret Room requires separate booking for erotic art including symposium scenes. Main Pompeii galleries contain multiple wine-related displays if unavailable.

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2. 📜 2

   Ask a Staff Member About the Pompeii Bar Price Lists

   history Free

   A Roman bar in Pompeii had its wine prices painted on the wall. Some survived.

   Pompeii's thermopolia had menus painted directly on walls - wine prices, food available, sometimes credit terms. A Roman wine bar price list from 79 AD is one of the most direct connections between ancient and modern wine commerce. In the Pompeii sections of MANN, ask any staff member: 'Do you have thermopolium wall paintings or price lists from Pompeii?' Even if specific fragments aren't exhibited, the question often leads to related material you wouldn't find independently.

   🔄 BACKUP: Pompeii context panels throughout describe the city's extensive bar culture and 200+ thermopolia.

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3. 🍷 3

   Compare a Greek Kylix with a Roman Wine Vessel

   Optional

   wine Free

   The MANN has both. The difference in how they held wine tells the whole story.

   Greek symposium drinkers used the kylix - a shallow, wide, two-handled cup requiring both hands, forcing slow drinking. Romans used different vessels - single-handled paterae for ritual pouring, deeper scyphi for drinking. The shift from Greek to Roman wine culture changed the physical ritual of how wine entered the mouth. In the Greek section (Farnese, ground floor), find any kylix or krater. In the Pompeii section (upper floors), find bronze or ceramic wine vessels. One civilization mixed wine with water and drank slowly; the other had 200 bars per neighborhood.

   🔄 BACKUP: The museum shop's Pompeii collection catalog shows detailed vessel images for comparison browsing.

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Insider Tips

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  Book timed entry online

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  The Secret Cabinet requires separate booking

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  Plan for multiple visits

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  The symposium mosaics are exceptional