Museo Archeologico di Stabia Reopens with Expanded Galleries and 500 New Artifacts

The Museo Archeologico Libero D’Orsi di Stabia, housed in the former Reggia di Quisisana, reopens to the public on March 6, 2024, after a major expansion and renovation. The museum, named after archaeologist Libero D’Orsi, first opened in September 2020. The new project adds 500 artifacts including mural paintings, furnishings, and marble decorations, plus 125 archaeological items from Campania recovered by the Nucleo TPC di Napoli in collaboration with the Parco Archeologico di Pompei from a private collector in Salerno province. The exhibition, curated by the Parco Archeologico di Pompei, traces the history of the ancient Roman city of Stabiae and the Ager Stabianus from the archaic period to the 79 AD eruption. It covers the Bourbon excavations and D’Orsi’s 1950s digs, with sections on archaic age, Hellenism, and production/food culture at Villas San Marco, Arianna, and Petraro. The museum’s storage areas have been transformed into public research and viewing spaces. Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano stated the museum expands the region's tourism offerings in a historically rich area. The original 2019 agreement between the Comune di Castellamare and the Parco Archeologico di Pompei, noted by then-Minister Dario Franceschini, enabled the museum's establishment.