For the initiative "Vesuvius@motion" the cultural center dedicated to the Vesuvius area was inaugurated in the presence of the institutions, born thanks to the synergy between the local authorities
Promoted by the Campania Region, the Museum Vesuvius National Park, inaugurated in the presence of the President Vincenzo De Luca, of the President of the Vesuvius National Park Authority Agostino Casillo, by the President of the Cives/MAV Foundation Louis Proximity, by the Director of the Vesuvius Observatory of INGV Frances White and the Mayor of the Municipality of Boscoreale Antonius diplomat.
"The Museum of the Vesuvius National Park, together with the MAV, another jewel of the area, must be one of the strengths of the tourist and cultural relaunch of our region - declares the President of the Campania Region Vincenzo De Luca –. Within 10 km we have the highest concentration of archaeological heritage in the world. If everything we have here had been in France or Germany they would have built something unimaginable between Pompeii, Herculaneum, Boscoreale, Torre del Greco, Portici. A little further up, Campi Flegrei, Baia, the submerged city. We have unique things in the world that we haven't been able to fully exploit. The development of the "tourism" sector is neither simple nor fast and foresees that many factors converge on the excellent success of the enterprise. With the president of EAV Umberto De Gregorio we are working on the construction of a cable car on Vesuvius. Another idea we plan to work on is the creation of a floral park, another element of tourist attraction in the Vesuvian area. We are trying to use the old disused railway network to create a large urban park that reaches from Pompeii to the sea, it can be a large cycle path, which can become a venue for international sporting events. We are working on the development of a safety plan: between Campi Flegrei and the Vesuvian area we have an extremely sensitive area from a seismic point of view. Another objective: the purification of the sea in the Gulf of Naples. The museum we are inaugurating this morning is not an isolated intervention; it is a piece of a great plan for the cultural, touristic, environmental and economic revitalization of the whole Vesuvian area».
«I am very happy with this historic result – he declares President of the Vesuvius National Park Authority Agostino Casillo –. The birth of the Vesuvius National Park Museum is part of the overall strategy for the revitalization of our protected area, which the Park Authority had already started a few years ago with the Great Vesuvius Project. I am sure that with the right commitment and the necessary determination we will get this important tourist site off the ground making it, moreover, a laboratory of sustainability and environmental culture, which our territory badly needs".
The structure, even if not directly, is connected to the network of the main Vesuvius attractions: Antiquarium of Boscoreale, crater of Vesuvius, excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum and museum headquarters of the Vesuvius Observatory, because it summarizes the main aspects of each of these sites .
"The Vesuvian Observatory has always been committed to disseminating knowledge on Campania volcanoes and we firmly believe that this sharing is one of the most important risk mitigation actions that are the responsibility of the scientific community - declares the Director of the INGV Vesuvius Observatory Frances White –. We collaborated with enthusiasm on the installations in the Park Museum, of which Vesuvius, one of the most iconic volcanoes in the world, is the undisputed protagonist. Through these installations we have told the characteristics of this volcano, the influence of its activities on the properties of the soil and on the development of the artifacts. And this sharing of knowledge also makes the Museum a permanent garrison for the reduction of volcanic risk».
Management has been entrusted to the Cives/MAV Foundation of Ercolano.
«Here is the museum that was missing, dedicated to Vesuvius. The cause of that "enchanting misfortune" (to quote Pliny the Younger), which over the centuries made Naples and its metropolitan area a place of fascinating attraction - declares il President of the Cives/MAV Foundation Luigi Vicinanza –. The opening of the museum to the public means an act of courage and a testimony of hope, even more evident after the long paralysis caused by the pandemic. An important contribution to the resumption of cultural activities and the restart of tourism. The synergy established with the Vesuvius National Park for the management of the Boscoreale museum is the concrete manifestation of the value of the collaboration between the local institutions, together with the Vesuvius Observatory of INGV and the Municipality of Boscoreale. The CIVES Foundation, with the over ten years of successful experience of the MAV (virtual archaeological museum) of Herculaneum, is even more characterized as a structure at the service of the Vesuvian area and the entire Campania Region for the growth of digital culture".
The Municipality of Boscoreale was the Lead Organization for the realization of the construction works of the Museum of the Vesuvius National Park (financed with funds from the Ministry of the Environment), supported by a Steering Committee composed of the President of the Park and the Director of the INGV-OV of Naples and by a Technical-Scientific Working Group made up of personnel from the three Institutions.
«I'm really happy that, thanks to the agreement reached with the Vesuvius Park Authority, INGV and the Cives Foundation, we were able to bring to conclusion this work, designed over twenty years ago when I sat among the municipal councilors' benches – declares the Mayor of the Municipality of Boscoreale Antonio Diplomatico –. The Museum enriches the offer for cultural and naturalistic tourism, and will contribute to ensuring that Boscoreale becomes a real gateway to the Vesuvius National Park. The synergy with the Pompeii Archaeological Park is also essential to guarantee visitors a complete range of proposals to lead them into the millenary history of these territories".
Il Cultural Center - Museum of the Vesuvius National Park, is made up of a complex of buildings: an Exhibition Centre, an Auditorium and an open-air Arena. The Exhibition Center hosts the Museum of the Vesuvius National Park and a Multimedia Center, as well as a bookshop and the operational headquarters of the Boscoreale Park Carabinieri Department. The Museum of the Park, composed of three large rooms connected by two short corridors, is set up with illustrative panels, multimedia equipment, display cases, dioramas, videos and interactive games, according to a common thread which is the description of the Vesuvius soil starting from the mother rock, generated by volcanic events; of the events that generate its transformation into humus, of its link with the plant, animal and human environment. Also part of this set-up are four flowerbeds, which represent some of the main Vesuvian environmental systems. The Multimedia Center it includes four rooms, within which a path unwinds made up of panels and multimedia installations, partly interactive, which describe some aspects of life and food in the Vesuvian area before 79 AD The Auditorium it has a total area of about 1.300 square meters, with an audience capable of hosting 324 spectators. The Municipality, as part of the preparation of the Multimedia Center, has foreseen in the Auditorium the projection of a film lasting about 25 minutes, entitled "Pompeii Stories in History" in which, against the background of a virtual reconstruction of ancient Pompeii , some characters tell the last moments of life before the eruption of 79 AD The Discovery Arena, located between the Auditorium and the Exhibition Center, it can accommodate up to 350 spectators, and is also equipped with a projector and a motorized screen for evening screenings.
