The birth of GRANDE POMPEI (GREATER POMPEII EXPERIENCE) TOWARDS a “BROADER PARK”
New displays: Villa of the Mysteries, restored and properly lit, the re-opening of the Antiquarium of Boscoreale, with the display of the chariot of Civita Giuliana, new forms of access to the villas of Stabia
The birth of Grande Pompei (the Greater Pompeii experience). The broader park comprises the archaeological areas of Pompeii, Boscoreale, Oplontis and Stabiae and all the surrounding territory.
A single ticket, valid for three days, a range of inter-connected tours, a free shuttle service for visitors, linking the sites throughout the day. The Antiquarium of Boscoreale, which includes a room devoted to the excavations currently underway in the suburban villa of Civita Giuliana, with the ceremonial chariot discovered in 2021, and the villas of Stabiae, have now reopened. After the restoration of the roofs, the Villa of the Mysteries will have a new lighting system with solar tiles that resemble the ancient roof tiles.
In order to raise awareness of this unique Grande Pompei (Greater Pompeii experience), the Park of Pompeii has launched a new accessibility plan that offers a range of inter-connected tours to the various sites, which differ in terms of the price and duration of the visit.
All the sites will be connected by a shuttle service - Pompeii Artebus – which is already operational and has been supplemented by other buses, in order to ensure access to all the sites and to enable visitors to learn about each place.
The visit to Pompeii has been extended through a multiple offer that includes tours of the suburban villas, including the Villa of the Mysteries, which has been restored and properly lit, the Antiquarium of Boscoreale with the room devoted to Civita Giuliana and the new access to the Stabian villas.
For a shorter itinerary, Pompeii Express, at a cost of 18 €, will make it possible to visit the archaeological area within the walls, with the exception of the suburban villas situated along Via delle Tombe. Visitors will also be able to see the Antiquarium, the museum within the city and the display area of the Palestra Grande which houses temporary exhibitions. For example, in December there will be a large exhibition entitled “L’altra Pompei” (The Other Pompeii), devoted to members of the lower classes that inhabited the city.
For people wishing to gain a better understanding of the site and the surrounding territory, there is Pompeii Plus, which costs 22 €. The offer includes a tour of the whole of ancient Pompeii within the city walls, as well as the Antiquarium and the display area of Palestra Grande, but also enables visitors to go further afield towards the suburban villas. These range from Villa of the Mysteries to the Villa of Diomedes and Villa Regina in Boscoreale with the Antiquarium, which has reopened after the refurbishment of the museum display. The Antiquarium has a room entirely devoted to the excavation of the suburban villa of Civita Giuliana, to the north of Pompeii where the famous ceremonial chariot will be on display.
The Pompei Plus package includes the Pompeii Artebus shuttle which each hour connects Villa of the Mysteries to Villa Regina and the Antiquarium, with a return to Piazza Esedra in Pompeii. The full loop of the bus tour begins from 9.30 am.
In order to discover all the sites of Grande Pompei (Greater Pompeii), which requires several days, the 3 days ticket is also available and costs 26 €. It includes Pompeii with the tour of the suburban villas together with the Antiquarium of Boscoreale, but also comprises Villa Poppea at Oplontis, and Stabiae, with Villa San Marco and Villa Arianna and the Museo Libero d’Orsi at Reggia di Quisisana in Castellammare di Stabia. The museum will soon reopen after the new refurbishment of the display and the reorganisation of the store rooms. The package includes a free shuttle service (find the timetable at www.pompeiisites.org).
The annual season ticket My Pompeii Card will continue to be available and costs 35€ (8€ concession for people aged 18 to 25 years old, valid for EU citizens) which makes it possible to visit all the sites in the Park of Pompeii whenever you want, for the duration of a year starting from the date of purchase.
Entrance to individual sites will be 8 € for Villa Regina and the Antiquarium of Boscoreale, for Villa Poppea at Oplontis, and for Museo Libero d’Orsi at the Reggia di Quisisana.
Entry is free for Villa San Marco and Villa Arianna at Stabiae.
There are concessions and free tickets for all the packages, in accordance with the law.
From time to time, the Park of Pompeii will also organise a series of special tours to the archaeological sites currently being excavated and in exclusive areas of the excavations.
“Outside the walls of Pompeii, there is cultural heritage that unparalleled anywhere else in the world: the villas of Stabiae, Boscoreale, Torre Annunziata, Villa of the Mysteries and Villa of Diomedes. This heritage is of incalculable importance and, thanks to the Grande Pompei (Greater Pompeii) initiative, will become an integral part of a single greater park area, a veritable archaeological and cultural landscape”, states the Park director Gabriel Zuchtriegel. “The sites in the territory are a kind of Pompeii 2 in terms of their potential for research and public access but, at the same time, they tell a story that goes hand-in-hand with that of the urban area: agriculture, holiday locations, vineyards, fields and stretches of land between Oplontis, Pompeii and Stabiae. The shuttle service, included in the entrance ticket, has been designed to link up all these places: like an airport, it is a single entity because at any time I can take the shuttle from Terminal 1 to Terminal 4, without needing to consult a timetable or buy a special ticket. This now comprises Grande Pompei (Greater Pompeii) which, as of today, can be experienced as one large park area extending from the sea to Vesuvius and the Lattari Mountains.
What we are presenting today is part of a broader strategy aimed at developing a UNESCO area which has recently been officially extended to include a buffer zone. It is intended to be an example of what we can still achieve using funding wisely and working in conjunction with other bodies and with the coordination of the Ministry which, at the instigation of the Minister Sangiuliano, focuses on the role of cultural heritage for the sustainability and development of territories.”
