Herculaneum Virtual Museum (MAV)

The Herculaneum Virtual Museum (Museo Archeologico Virtuale, MAV), in the modern town of Ercolano in Campania a short walk from the archaeological park, is a technology-driven museum that reconstructs the ancient cities of the Bay of Naples as they were before the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. Opened in 2008 in a former school building, it differs from a traditional collection: rather than displaying excavated artefacts, it uses multimedia, projections, holograms and interactive installations to bring the lost world of Herculaneum, Pompeii and the surrounding villas back to life. Visitors move through darkened galleries where digital reconstructions show streets, houses and public buildings repopulated and refurnished, allowing comparison between the ruins seen at the nearby park and their original appearance. Reconstructed interiors include the Villa of the Papyri, the forum, the thermal baths and frescoed rooms, presented with sound, light and animation that evoke daily life, commerce and leisure. A centrepiece is an immersive presentation on the eruption itself, conveying the scale and speed of the disaster that buried the towns. The curatorial approach is deliberately experiential and aimed at general audiences and families, complementing rather than replacing a visit to the genuine archaeological sites, and it is particularly useful for understanding how the surviving stone shells were once decorated and inhabited. Because its content is digital, the museum periodically updates its installations and hosts temporary exhibitions and screenings. Located close to the Ercolano Scavi Circumvesuviana station and the entrance to the Herculaneum excavations, the MAV is best treated as a context-setting stop of around an hour to ninety minutes either before or after touring the ruins, helping visitors of all ages visualise the vanished Roman seaside towns of the Vesuvian coast.