A “memorial” that tells the story of the end of Pompeii and its victims. The eruption of 79 AD —an event that struck thousands of people and transformed the ancient Vesuvian city into a unique testimony in history—is, for the first time, narrated through a permanent museum installation that reconstructs the events moment by moment, displaying casts of the victims together with a selection of extraordinarily well-preserved organic artifacts.

Among the discoveries on display are 22 casts of victims, selected from those best preserved and most clearly interpretable. They are presented according to their original contexts, ranging from the domus within the inner areas of the city to the gates and the roads leading out of the urban center—routes along which the inhabitants fled in a desperate and ultimately futile search for safety.

The exhibition route unfolds through the south and north porticoes of the Palestra Grande, the large square building located opposite the Amphitheatre and once used for the training and education of citizens. The display includes a section dedicated to volcanology and to organic remains—plants and animals—and another section devoted to human remains.

Petrucci Srl designed and produced all the display cases, featuring innovative opening systems and sliding platforms operated by pistons, as well as the new lighting system for the exhibition spaces.