STABIANO MUSEUM E LE VILLE DI STABIA

The path is integrated with educational technologies and multimedia devices that implement the physical and cultural accessibility of the works and contents. The complex's warehouses have also been valorised, according to a new concept aimed at making them no longer just places of conservation but also of use and research, open to the public. The Museum has been hosted since 2020 in the spaces of the Royal Palace of Quisisana - a building that boasts a history of over seven centuries, then enhanced in the Bourbon era - as a space dedicated to the exhibition of numerous and prestigious finds from the Stabian territory, together with precious testimonies of life daily life, in particular that which took place in the Roman villas of otium (luxurious residences aimed at resting the body and the spirit, from activities and business) and in the rustic villas (similar in concept to modern farms), located in a panoramic position with a "view" of the Gulf of Naples.

The visit itinerary has been expanded with the introduction of new restored finds while the existing one has been revisited in light of the introduction of new technologies, multimedia and educational equipment. For the first time the exhibitions bring together the decorative systems of the maritime villas found on the Varano hill during the excavations of the Bourbon era and those discovered by Libero D'Orsi starting from 1950.

It is told of an extraordinary archaeological site, the ancient Stabiae, twice destroyed and twice reborn. Conquered and devastated during the Social War by Silla's troops, as punishment for having gone over to the side of the Italian rebels, it comes back to life as the pagus of Nocera and becomes home to important and prestigious maritime villas, equipped with wonderful and luxurious decorative features.

It was subsequently destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD. like Pompeii and Herculaneum, but unlike the latter it was reborn as early as 92 AD. as reported by the poet Statius. Stabiae was the seat of a statio of the Misenate fleet and will continue to be so even in the post-eruption age, as demonstrated by the finds found under the Cathedral of Castellammare di Stabia.

In the first room a multimedia model enters into relation with the exhibits on display, recounting the transformations of the territory over a long period of time - between Herculaneum, Vesuvius, Pompeii up to Sorrento on the Neapolitan side and Nocera and the Lattari Mountains on the Salerno side; and the two different moments of discovery of the ancient city of Stabia, the first in the Bourbon age (in the years in which Pompeii and Herculaneum were discovered); the second by the Principal Libero D'Orsi, in the 1950s.

Stabiae was a favorite holiday place for rich Roman patricians who built many villas there, with attached spas and wonderful frescoes. Some villas, including Arianna's, had direct access to the beach with various ramps and stairs. In August 79, the eruption of Vesuvius destroyed the area, causing roofs to fall and burying the villas under a thick blanket of ash.

Pliny the Elder, at the time head of the Roman imperial fleet stationed in Miseno, died in the area. After seeing the explosion from Cape Miseno, he headed towards Pompeii with his ships to observe it up close and to help the population.

Seeing that it was impossible to get close to Pompeii, he headed with the fleet towards Stabiae where he died on a beach, probably from having breathed toxic fumes.

The Roman Villas of Stabiae

On the northern edge of the Varano hill, there are some large Roman domus, in a panoramic position, built for residential purposes, with large living spaces, spa structures, porticoes and splendidly decorated nymphaeums.

An area full of settlements with three rediscovered villas that can be visited for free. In Varano there are some of these villas including 'Villa S. Marco' which is one of the largest of the Roman 'villae' of a residential nature and occupies a surface area of approximately 11,000m2.