From April the 29th Pompeii has a new exhibition at the Antiquarium, recently reopened in the archaeological excavations: "Thanks to the Grace: The religious devotion in the ancient and modern Pompeii" promoted by an extraordinary synergy between Pompeii Superintendence and the Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary, with the collaboration of the European Centre for Tourism and Culture chaired by Giuseppe Lepore and the organizational support of Civita Mu.Se.A, on the occasion of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy proclaimed by Pope Francis. The exhibition is curated by Francesco Buranelli and Massimo Osanna.
"Thanks to the Grace" is the formula that accompanies - since time immemorial - the votive offerings of the faithful people to God for hearing their prayers and giving them divine help. "According to promise" (“Ex voto suscepto” in Latin) was, however, the ancient Latin formula for expressing an identical gratitude to the pagan gods. Humans, in fact, have always acknowledged God the Father and his willingness to help them to overcome the difficulties of life (health, protection and well-being for their loved ones) and to answer to their prayers, even with a miraculous intervention. The prayer of supplication and thanksgiving is so often accompanied by one thing: a promise to God to fulfill "something" also offering a spontaneous gratitude to the sanctuary. The object's offer is the "sign" of this gratitude, and thus becomes an act of worship and divine devotion. The exhibition aims to explore people's intimate and personal relationship with God that is perpetuated through the centuries by the ancient pagan world to the Christian world in a surprising continuity of expression in respect of the large divergence of the two religions. For the first time, in fact, there is a comparison between rituals and offerings of the ancient Samnites and Romans of Pompeii to the pagan deities and the Christian ones that, even today, people offer to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary. What emerges is a strict parallelism, even though times and religions have changed, that is perpetuated in a ritual and a "language" of votive offerings in identical forms. The exhibition is divided into three sections: 1) Holy Roman Pompeii archaeological section; 2) pagan iconography and Christian iconography; 3) Marian devotion in the Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary. The exhibition also integrates with thematic sections arranged in the Sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin of the Rosary and in the area of the excavations: from the temple of Apollo to the temple of Isis, the House of the Menander to the Thermopolium of Vetutius Placido, in order to promote a moment of cultural meeting between archaeological tourism and religious pilgrimage. For this event the historic Antiquarium of Pompeii will be reopened to the public after a decade of closure. The Antiquarium was made by Giuseppe Fiorelli in 1870 to preserve the large amount of artifacts found in the archaeological area. The exhibition is open from Monday to Sunday from 9 AM to 7 PM and is accessed through the Porta Marina and Piazza Esedra entrance. The tickets cost 2 euros per person.
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"The investments that are made in culture are not only a duty of quality of social life but also to foster economic growth. Our country has the greatest artistic and cultural heritage of the world. There is a need not only to preserve this heritage but also to enhance. It is our duty to do so, both towards our history and our future". This is the strong message sent by the Italian President, Sergio Mattarella, during his visit to Pompeii made last Saturday to officially inaugurate the exhibition of the franco-polish artist Igor Mitoraj (who has passed away two years ago).
The President arrived in Pompeii around 11 am and in reference to the exhibition of Mitoraj Mattarella said: "My appreciation is very high, I could appreciate through the works of Mitoraj the extraordinary combination of antiquity and modernity. The placement of the sculptures of this great artist seems to all, and it seems to me too, completely natural and it has enhanced the ruins. Maybe someone will have been deceived thinking that they are works of that time, and it means that art has no boundaries of time and the beauty to combine ancient art and contemporary art. I have to thank the Minister of Culture and Tourism Franceschini for this extraordinary event and the Superintendent and the Governator De Luca too”. The Minister Franceschini, introducing the speech of Mattarella, emphasizes: "This is the confirmation of the rebirth of Pompeii. Its name was associated with an element of Italian negativity but now we are in another season. The picture is completely changed: now we have 43 completed construction sites and 27 in progress. We have almost reached the number of 3 million of visitors and this is an important story. The second source of satisfaction for you, Mr. President, is that your visit takes place for the exhibition of an extraordinary sculptor like Mitoraj and this is happened thanks to the Foundation and to the will of the heirs. I was lucky to meet him and Mitoraj in person who told me that his dream was to create an exhibition in Pompeii. He had imagined exactly in which corners of the archaeological site his works need to be exposed". Franceschini also recalls that :"Italy can count on more resources in the budget of the cultural heritage. Today the budget of the Ministry of Culture has increased by 36% compared to the 2015, returning over two billion after being for a long time under one billion and a half". After visiting the ruins Mattarella has reached the Basilica dedicated to the Holy Virgin for a private visit – that is the most important center of Marian devotion in the world located two kilometers far from the archaeological park. The Italian President was accompanied by the Archbishop Tommaso Caputo and the rector of the Sanctuary, Mr. Mocerino. At the end of the visit in the sanctuary Mattarella left Pompeii by helicopter. The Cannes Film Festival will greet the first showing of "Pompeii, eternal emotion", the short film signed by Pappi Corsicato, a Neapolitan director, and produced by the Campania Region. The film will be presented today in a world premiere for the international press. The short film, lasting about ten minutes, will be scheduled from Monday the 16th to Sunday the 22nd of May in the spaces at the Short Film Corner of the Palais des Festivals in Cannes. The film was also selected for competition at the New Media Festival in Los Angeles, where it will be presented on June 7.
"I personally chose the title - the director says - because although it is a city which is not living anymore, Pompeii conveys an overall idea of "infinite", it embodies an eternal emotion. It's as if the place did not have a beginning or an end; its image is frozen in time. For this reason I tried to work by adopting visual suggestions that go beyond the didactic direction, namely not to fall into the trap of the already seen and thus the already experienced. " His film will star the press conference entitled "Campania - More than Beauty" scheduled this afternoon (at 15) in the Italian Pavilion at the Majestic Hotel in Cannes. The director explains that the area of Pompeii is still a resource for the whole Southern Italy, because the ancient city is undoubtedly one of the most famous and evocative places of the world, an unparalleled attractor in many aspects. The film shows the archaeological area of Pompeii but, more generally, is the testimony of the great power of evocation that this site has in the imaginary world. Corsicato did not have any obstacles, for example, to bring up the tourists in the filming of the movie. Filming has allowed him to tell the amazement of visitors in a city frozen in time. It was shot in the summer of last year and involved dozens of tourists arriving from all over the world. He chose to involve them for a few minutes and just one take. All of them showed great attention and availability with the crew despite the weather conditions almost prohibitive. It was shot in late August 2015 with temperatures abundantly exceeded 30 degrees Celsius (90° Fahrenheit). According to him, this is undoubtedly a demonstration of the enormous force that Pompeii gives in the minds and eyes of tourists from all over the world. The visual imagery of Pompeii naturally evokes images of all kinds, from peplum style movies to documentaries for National Geographic, the "Live at Pompeii" by Pink Floyd shot by Adrian Maben and TV reports that for decades have shown the most famous archaeological excavations in the world. According to Pappi Corsicato, the secret of this place is the powerful eruption with disastrous consequences, because it has a strong emotional impact, especially on the younger generation. This is the first time that Corsicato made a short film about an archeological site, but he had already made more than 30 documentaries on contemporary art. For the first Sunday of April a great amount of tourists is expected to visit Pompeii, because of the free admittance. Every year, when spring comes to the ancient city, the high season begins and most of the regular tours start. Some people choose guided tours, some tourists come with sightseeing tours which include also the visit to Vesuvius, some of them decide to visit the ruins on their own.
Thanks to the European funds and the commitment of the Superintendent and staff of the Directorate of The Great Pompeii Project, there will be some sites open for the first time to the public: the House of Queen Caroline, the House of the Wild Boar, the House of Lime, the House of the Doctor and the Botanical Garden and the adjacent building. Also the Odeon (small theatre) has been restored. These sites will be open in rotation during the day, so it will be possible that the tours of Pompeii will be able to show only some of the new sites. Thanks to the interventions, in particular on the most compromised masonry, the removal of propping blocking access to roads and houses was possible. This will allow the return of visitors to the whole Royal Road network. The opening of these sites follows another opening which took place in December 2015. In fact, at the end of last year six new houses were inaugurated by the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Pompeii has also a new media and communication plan. This plan gives a new identity to the ancient city trough a redesigned website to join the institutional and public communication, new signals, videos to tell the city through excellent testimonials. The new view gives to the visitor a “portrait of a living city”, which is also crucial in the contemporary world. The new website provides a new information architecture and a reorganization of all pages within homogeneous sections identified in an immediate and consistent way. The goal is to improve accessibility, integrate and enhance the content, offering users both institutional and tourist information, according to principles of usability, usefulness, attractiveness. The creation of a new map and a new guide of the ancient city in 8 languages, which is a guidance system for the tourist, integrated and consistent with the renewed panels the visitors will find inside the archaeological site. The new information material is currently being distributed at the entrances of the ruins. The two videos of 40 and 15 minutes were made to tell the story of the ancient city and to understand how life was 2,000 years ago. The first video (“The voice of Pompeii”) aims to teach us more about the methodological approach of the Great Project Pompeii and the team that works there. The second video, "Voices of Pompeii” wants to show the visitors what it was like living in Pompeii 2,000 years ago. It guides the tourists through the streets with some imaginary characters that represent the living humanity at the time of the destruction of the city. Are you passionate about good food? If yes, you must read this article and come to Pompeii as soon as you can!
In fact now, after visiting Pompeii - doing a walking tour or a guided tour to discover the wonders about one of the most important archeological sites of the world has brought to light - you can also taste a new amazing and unique experience which leads you directly back two thousand years into the past. There is now a new great place in which ancient recipes are served by staff dressed with old roman costumes: the name is Caupona, the first archaeo-experiential restaurant of Pompeii. Presented to the press on April 19th, it is in part inspired by the old Roman thermopolia, quite similar to modern snack bars, were customers could sit and eat their meals in the rooms at the back. And often these buildings even provided rooms for sex, upstairs. Currently, in the ruins of Pompeii, there are 89 thermopolia and this underlines the importance of the commercial role that the ancient city had. In fact, the significant influx of foreigners, who came to the city thanks to commercial traffic, justifies the presence of this large number of inns. The Latin name "Caupona", to which this new restaurant of Pompeii is inspired, indicates precisely the inn. From terracotta plates to the frescoes, everything has been designed and built to reproduce in detail the characteristics of an inn and a Roman house of ancient Pompeii. The restaurant is located in Pompeii at via Masseria Curato n° 2, a few meters from the ruins. Here, lunch or dinner aspires to offer a true immersion in the uses and customs in vogue in Pompeii two thousand years ago. The Caupona garden reproduces exactly the garden of a Roman domus (or house). On the walls of the building, that is a renovated farmhouse, there are price lists shown in sesterces (the currency used in Roman times), graffiti and electoral writting mirroring the same of an ancient inn. The interior, in part dedicated to the administration, recalls the interior architecture of the Termopolio of Vetucius Placidus; whilst the part dedicated to the guests is inspired by the beautiful House of Marcus Lucretius Frontone. All the murals and frescoes were reproduced by hand, as the artists of old Pompeii used to do. Finally, drinks and foods inspired by the recipes of Apicius De Re Coquinaria are served in earthenware dishes and cups as well as the Roman traditions of the time. So, don’t waste time! Hurry up and organize your journey to Pompeii and don’t miss the experience to taste good food in the suggestive Roman atmosphere of the Caupona restaurant! But, before going to the Caupona to satisfy your hunger, don’t forget to join our guided 3D virtual reality tours. In this way you do not just imagine what Pompeii must have been like, but you will be completely immersed in a three-dimensional reconstruction of the site and you will see the ancient city of Pompeii as you’ve never seen before! Let’s go and time travel through the past! |
AuthorStaff at Flashback Journey to Pompeii. Our goal is to bring you up-to-date information on events, continuing archeological excavations and more on Pompeii. Archives
July 2018
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