Show “the wood that didn’t burn at Herculaneum”

From Dec. 14, 2022 until Dec. 31, 2023 at the Palace of Portici, it is possible to see an exhibition called “The Matter, the wood that did not burn at Herculaneum.”

This is a unique exhibition that welcomes more than 120 charred wood artifacts found intact at Herculaneum. In particular, these are doors, windows, partitions, furniture, chests, beds and pieces of ancient boats. 

A heritage that remained intact for years, thanks in part to the particular dynamics of the eruption that swept through Herculaneum. 

In fact, Herculaneum unlike Pompeii, was not immediately buried by the rain of ash and lapilli. But it was hit only later, by a powerful pyroclastic flow (water vapor, gas at very high temperatures) that destroyed the entire city within minutes. This particular dynamic of the eruption allowed many materials, such as wood, to be found intact. But also part of the houses of Herculaneum, which did not collapse like Pompeii under the weight of the rain of lapilli.

Information about the exhibition “The Matter”

The exhibition located precisely at the Palace of Portici is produced by the Herculaneum Archaeological Park. 

The cost of the entrance ticket is 5 euros.

But an integrated ticket has been created that includes not only a visit to the exhibition “La Materia,” but also to the Reggia di Portici, the Herculanense Museum, the Botanical Garden and the Archaeological Park of Herculaneum. 

Tickets can be purchased either on the official website www.centromusa.it or at the ticket offices of the Herculaneum Archaeological Park and the Reggia di Portici.

The closing day for visiting the exhibition is Monday. 

Admission hours from December 14, 2022 to March 27, 2023 are as follows:

Admission times from March 28, 2023 are as follows:

The exhibition is divided among several rooms, all strictly related to the theme of the exhibition, the material, wood.

On display are not only wooden artifacts found in Herculaneum, but also ancient tools used, precisely, for woodworking ( axe, hammer, saw).

As well as 250 incredibly preserved fragments of the wooden roof of the Marble Hall house.

And even the skeleton of a small boat, probably used for fishing, displayed as if it were actually submerged in water.