NOLA - The Archaeological Historical Museum with prehistoric huts

The treasure chest, in the center, is a monastery dedicated to Holy Mary the Nova dating back to 1521, when it was created within the pre existing medieval castle “Casale Nuovo”.

The restoration started in the new millennium, after it became municipal propriety, and obtained in the three floors, the exhibition spaces for the Archaeological Historical Museum to which Nola has entrusted the preservation, use and enhancement of an extraordinary synthesis of its important historical archaeological and artistic heritage . Including the materials found during the excavations of the last few decades, enriching even more the museum's equipment in 2009.

The exhibition itinerary starts from the geological setting of the territory, whose historical events have been strongly influenced over time by the relative proximity of the Somma-Vesuvius, of which the two eruptions most impacting on the communities of Nola are recalled in particular: the eruption of the pumice trees of Avellino, between 1860 and 1680 BC, in the middle of the Bronze Age, and the eruption of Pollena occurred in 472 AD

Prehistory

Going back in time, the first evidence of human presence in the area dates back to the Bronze Age, when the Avellino eruption covered much of Campania with volcanic materials, sowing death and destruction.

Archaeological excavations have brought to the surface the villages then erased, identified thanks to the findings belonging to the so called facies of Palma Campania. Physiognomic reconstructions of three individuals found in the tombs of St. Paolo Belsito are presented from that period. Among the strengths of the museum, that very section also boasts the full-scale reconstruction of the prehistoric huts unearthed in the site of Cross of the Pope, between Nola and Saviano, displaying inside various objects of daily use, in the exact arrangement they were in when the eruption stopped time and the life of the inhabitants.

The Etruscan influence

The origins of the city of Nola are illustrated in the section corresponding to the period between the 8th and 6th centuries BC. The grave kits from the necropolis of Torricelle, north east of the city, and via St. Massimo belong to that phase. These are tombs showing a strong Etruscan cultural influence, but also the practice of the symposium, evidenced by the wine vessels, of unequivocal Greek derivation.

The kits reveal the habits of life of the population and its social organization. The coexistence of locally produced vessels with others from Cuma and Daunia demonstrates the fervor of commercial relations with various contemporary communities. However, the considerable quantity of buccheri and Etruscan-Corinthian ceramics, with various inscriptions on the vases, confirms the Etruscan connotation of Nola in the centuries in which the Tyrrhenians, rooted in Capua, controlled the vast northernmost territory. It was between 6th and 9th BC that ancient Nola experienced its period of maximum splendor, while on the coast, in 470, Neapolis was founded.

Today the vitality of trade and relations with neighboring populations and cultures are told by the numerous Attic vases with both black and red figures, found during the excavations conducted between the 18th and 19th centuries. In particular: two Attic amphorae by the Painter of Alchinaco and the so called Painter of Berlin and a crater with red figure columns attributed to the so called Painter of Naples. In the 5h century a local production was develope imitating the red figure vases, called Pillar with the Owl. The formation of a warrior ruling class in the 5th century BC it is then found in the funerary paintings on the slabs from various necropolises. The museum shows, among others, the Tomb of the Knight, with the original arrangement of the painted plates, the Tomb of the Togati and the Tomb of the Dancer of Casamarciano. Of particular interest is the depiction of a knight with a horned helmet, honored as a hero, on a tomb excavated in 1977 in via Seminario.

The Roman era

The museum displays findings related to the Oscan presence, that lasted until 313-312 BC, when Nola was conquered by the Romans. It was the beginning of a long period of peace, interrupted by the social war, which saw the city fight against Rome, until the reconquest signed by Silla. The Roman age was accompanied by a new urban layout, including the construction of various monuments. Like the amphitheater, from which limestone pillars with relief decoration arrive. Are also Roman the limestone statues of toga, found in the locality of Cangio, and two statues depicting Attis from a funerary monument in Cicciano. On the landing of the staircase leading to the first floor, the valuable statue of Lorica from the Trajan period makes a fine show.

On the first floor, there is a magnificent mosaic fountain from the 3rd century AD, discovered in a villa in St. Paolo Belsito. One of the many rustic villas present in ager nolanus. One room is dedicated to the testimonies of the imperial age, with two statues coming from the villa of Augustus in Somma Vesuviana. At the end of the corridor on the first floor, fragments of the marble pluteus and the four pillars of the presbytery of the basilica of St. Felice a Cimitile can be admired, dating back to the end of the 9th and beginning of the 10th century. In addition to two complete funeral kits of the twenty-six found in the basilica of Tufino.

The Renaissance

The Nolan museum offers visitors a large section dedicated to the art of the Renaissance period in the city. There are exhibited various findings from Orsini Palace and the altar of the church of Holy Mary the Nova (of the complex where the museum is today) with polychrome marble adorned with inserts of motherpearl, lapis lazuli and precious stones.

Of great value is the section of paintings from the late 16th century, by famous authors. First of all the works, there is a large canvas depicting the Annunciation by Domenico Antonio Vaccaro, painted in the first twenty years of the 18th century, coming from the church of Saint Mary of Piesco in Casamarciano.

Not to be missed are the beautiful collections of a thousand Neapolitan tiles and ceramics dating from the 1400s to the present day, from the private collection collected by Diodato Colonnese.

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