Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Campania Artecard
The region of Campania offers a useful
integrated ticket
system (
%
800-
600601; www.campaniartecard.it) that is a great investment if you plan to
go to at least two museums or archaeological sites, including many regional
sites like those in Pompeii and Caserta. Even if you are only in the city for
a day or two, the savings are substantial. Youth cards are reduced in price
and offer free admission to all sites.
u
€
13 adults:
Free entrance to two sights and half-price for the oth-
ers in Naples and the Phlegrean Fields, plus free unlimited use of
public transportation. Must be used within 3 days.
€
25:
Free entrance for two sights and half-price for the others in
Naples, the Phlegrean Fields, Caserta, and the archaeological areas of
Capua and Paestrum, plus free unlimited use of public transportation.
Must be used within 3 days.
u
€
28:
Free entrance to all sights in Naples and region, but no public
transportation. Must be used within 7 days.
You can buy the card at any of the sights, train stations, hotels, and
some tobacco shops. In theory the card is also supposed to allow you to
cut long lines at ticket stands, but in most cases, you still have to go to
the ticket agent to validate the card.
u
On the
lower floor
surrounding an open courtyard, you'll wander through a
massive collection of statues and bronze works. Most of these pieces were exca-
vated from digs in the Roman Forum and along the coast of Campania, between
Naples and Sorrento. If you're pressed for time, head straight up the original open
stairway to the mezzanine floor, and feast your eyes on some extraordinary
mosaics. The best of these is the large
Alexander the Great defeating Darius,
found
in the House of Faun, one of the finest examples of private architecture found in
Pompeii. There are 1.5 million tiny tiles in this 3-by-6m (10-by-20-ft.) mosaic
masterpiece, which was dug out from under the crusted lava and reconstructed
here at the museum.
The
mezzanine
is where you'll see the best of the artifacts and relics carefully
removed from the lava-encrusted ruins of nearby Pompeii, Herculaneum, and
Stabiae. Check out the ancient coins and the unbroken pottery—the latter seems
impossible when you consider that all of these pieces were covered by 2.7m (9 ft.)
of smoldering ash and pumice almost immediately after Mt. Vesuvius's
A
.
D
.79
eruption.
To get an idea of just what kind of people the ancient Pompeiians were, don't
miss the seriously erotic art that is kept in the
Gabinetto Segreto (Secret Room)
on the mezzanine. It's open to the curious public but closely monitored. The
guard at the door blocks anyone under 11 from entering, and takes special care
