Naples Archaeological Museum

Home to the world's greatest collection of Roman artifacts, including wine vessels, mosaics depicting Bacchus, and treasures from Pompeii and Herculaneum. The Farnese Collection includes stunning depictions of Roman wine culture.

What to do there

5 things to do

1. 1 Hunt the Blue Vase That a Roman Chose for Eternity Wine · Price: moderate

   You're looking for a small blue cameo glass vase (inventory 13521) that a Roman family chose for eternity — not portraits, not deities, but Dionysiac scenes. White cameo relief on midnight blue glass shows Silenus with grape vines springing like antlers from his head, recovered December 29, 1837 from a funerary garden near Pompeii. Find it in the ground floor glass and ceramic cases (ask for 'la brocca blu campana' or 'inventory 13521'). A Roman artisan spent months on an object the size of a wine bottle, then grieving family buried it in the ground. Stand long enough to notice the tiny white glass carvings fused onto midnight blue — this is almost certainly a Roman twin of the famous Portland Vase now in the British Museum.

   Backup: If you cannot locate this specific vase, find the glass objects cases nearby — the museum has multiple Roman glass vessels with Dionysiac scenes from Pompeii. Any of them carries the same story: wine was sacred enough to accompany the dead.

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2. 2 Decode What Roman Wine Labels Actually Said History · Price: moderate

   Those stamped marks on amphora handles are Roman wine labels — a lead die pressed into wet clay recording the vineyard owner's abbreviated three-part Roman name, sometimes grape variety (Aminean was premium, now believed ancestor of Greco di Tufo), sometimes vintage year. Find the amphora cases on the first floor in Pompeii collections, looking for Dressel 1 (thick walls, pre-1st century BC) next to Dressel 2-4 (thinner, lighter Roman engineering leap). Here's the 'wait, really?' moment: Pliny records people STILL drinking the 121 BC 'Opimian' vintage 125 years later. Campanian Falernian wine was so transcendent that one excellent year became legend across generations, and these vessels carried wine from 'Campania Felix' to Britain, Germany, and North Africa.

   Backup: If the amphora hall is crowded, find any labeled wine vessel and read the placard. The trade data encoded in Roman ceramics is more precise than most modern wine labels.

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3. 3 Enter the Room That Was Locked for 181 Years History · Price: moderate

   In 1819, King Francis I of Naples locked away what Pompeii's excavators had found, requiring written royal permission granted only to 'men of mature age and respected morals.' The Gabinetto Segreto stayed locked for 181 years until 2000, but Francis I didn't understand: these weren't pornographic to Romans. Inside the first floor Secret Cabinet (visitors 14+) you'll find phallic oil lamps, explicit frescoes, and the marble Pan and Goat sculpture from Herculaneum — all apotropaic symbols that warded off evil and ensured abundance. Bacchus was everywhere because excess in his name was sacred, presiding over fertility, transformation, and ritual dissolution between human and divine. Go slowly and notice how many pieces involve wine vessels, grape imagery, or Bacchus directly.

   Backup: If the Secret Cabinet is temporarily closed, the Pompeii fresco galleries have Dionysiac scenes throughout — look for theatrical masks and vine imagery that signal Bacchus's presence in Roman domestic life.

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4. 4 Find the Greek City Walls Naples Was Built On Top Of Adventure · Free

   When you reach Piazza Bellini (8 minutes southeast of the museum), look down at the sunken excavation revealing ancient Greek city walls of Neapolis — the original Greek city founded around 470 BC that Naples grew from. You are standing above walls that predate Rome's dominance of Italy, in a city that has not been empty for a single day in 2,500 years. Walk to the iron railing and look at the ancient stonework (GPS: 40.85001, 14.25188) where Romans built on top of Greeks, then Byzantines, Normans, and Bourbons layered above. At golden hour, the ochre stones glow while cafes and wine bars ring this piazza with students and locals sitting exactly where Roman citizens sat.

   Backup: The walls are always there — they've been there since before Julius Caesar was born. No closure possible. If the piazza is crowded, the view from any angle still reveals the excavated walls.

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5. 5 Toast with the Living Descendant of Rome's Most Famous Wine Wine · Price: low · Optional

   Order Falanghina dei Campi Flegrei — the volcanic white wine that wine historians believe descends from the grape used for ancient Falernum, the most celebrated wine in all of Rome that Pliny wrote about and Julius Caesar drank. Walk 2 minutes from Piazza Bellini to Vineria San Sebastiano (Via San Sebastiano 11, open Tuesday–Sunday from 20:00). Ask specifically for 'Falanghina dei Campi Flegrei' — the volcanic terroir from the active Phlegraean Fields gives the wine its characteristic mineral, saline edge. You're not drinking wine inspired by ancient Rome; you're drinking a direct descendant of what was in those museum amphorae. The wine arrives golden, slightly smoky on the nose, with apricot and sea salt on the palate.

   Backup: If Vineria San Sebastiano is closed, any bar on Piazza Bellini will pour Campanian wine. Ask for Falanghina or Greco di Tufo — Greco di Tufo is also descended from the Aminean grape and carries the same ancient bloodline.

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Insider tips

• Visit the Secret Cabinet (Gabinetto Segreto) for erotic Roman art including wine-related scenes

• The Farnese Hercules and other sculptures are on the ground floor

• Book timed entry to avoid crowds, especially in summer