Pompeii, Italy

2001

The project, developed as part of an initiative by “Vista Historica” in collaboration with Architect Kartes, was conceived as a historical-theatrical experience preceding a visit to the archaeological site of Pompeii. Its location is an essential part of the concept: rather than being a remote museum presenting Pompeii and its artifacts, it serves as an experiential introduction located at the entrance to the site itself, near Porta Marina, along the visitors’ route into the ancient city.

 

At the end of the experience, visitors leave the exhibition and enter almost directly into the remains of the streets, houses, temples, and baths whose stories they have just encountered.

​

The idea emerged from the gap between the power of Pompeii’s story and the experience of visitors currently wandering among its ruins. Archaeology presents the “vessel”—walls, streets, columns, mosaics, and objects—but the stones themselves cannot tell the human dramas that unfolded among them. The project sought to bring the lost life back into the ruins and provide visitors with a lasting impression of characters, voices, stories, and memories that would accompany them throughout the rest of their visit.

​

The route is structured as a sequence of

three-dimensional theatrical scenes reconstructing key locations and events throughout the city: the Forum, the Temple of Apollo, the Basilica, the Herculaneum Gate, the House of the Tragic Poet, Via dell’Abbondanza, and the Stabian Baths. Each space combines scenery, projections, sound, lighting, and special effects. Visitors are not merely observing the story from the outside; they move through it.

 

The experience reaches its climax in the Grand

Finalea dramatic portrayal of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and the city’s final moments, conveyed through sound, smoke, vibrations, and theatrical effects.

​

After encountering the city in its living state, meeting its people, and experiencing the disaster that froze it in time, visitors proceed to the archaeological site. From that moment on, the ruins are no longer silent stones: the Forum, the street, the house, and the baths bring to life the images, sounds, and events they experienced only moments earlier. In this way, an ongoing dialogue is created between the theatrical experience and the archaeological source—between imagination and the authentic remains.

​

In this sense, The Pompeii Experience is not a substitute for visiting Pompeii, but the key to understanding it. The preceding experience gives life to the past, allowing that past to continue resonating in the visitor’s mind as they later walk among the ruins of the ancient city.

​