Anfiteatro Laterizio
Nola's Roman amphitheatre, first century BC: a quarter is excavated, with the parapet faced in white marble.
3 places covered in Nola Grouped by type, most important first.
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Archaeology
1Castles, palaces and villas
1Castello di Cicala
The castle on the hill of Cicala, in Nola: walls you can climb, a courtyard and a long line of owners.
Churches and places of worship
1Cattedrale di Nola
Nola's cathedral, rebuilt after the fire of 1861: the sixteenth-century chapel of the Immaculate survives.
More places of interest
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Museo storico archeologico di Nola
The National Archaeological Museum of Nola has been housed since 2000 in the complex of Santa Maria la Nova and tells the story of the Nola area from prehistory to the Middle Ages. It is a state museum, run by the Regional Museums Directorate of Campania. The collection, which largely comes from donations by private individuals and public bodies, includes reliefs, majolica, amphorae, sculptures, imperial busts and tombs, and is laid out on three floors, in chronological order.
What to see
The prehistory is that of the sites near Palma Campania and at Croce del Papa, which inspired the full-scale reconstruction of a hut. The volcanic ash preserved traces of that village's farming life: the imprint of an ear of barley and one of emmer, an almond, leaves of fruit trees and of oak, and the imprint of the wattle that formed the shell of the huts.
On the ground floor there are then the grave goods from the seventh century BC to the Roman age: vases of Cumaean and Daunian origin, bucchero ware, amphorae attributed to local vase painters. The «Tomba del cavaliere» stands out, of which the slab is displayed with the portrait of a horseman in a horned helmet, found in the excavations of 1977 in Via Seminario; the Tomb of the Togati and the Tomb of the Dancer are also reconstructed. One section is devoted to the Villa Augustea of Somma Vesuviana; other finds come from the early Christian basilicas of nearby Cimitile.
Visiting
Times and tickets should be checked on the website of the Regional Museums Directorate or with the museum. The building also has a conference room and a library.
Our editors' tip
Do not stop at the archaeology. The route ends with two modern collections: the «riggiole», the Neapolitan majolica tiles, with more than three hundred pieces from the sixteenth century onwards, and the papier-mâché tied to the Festa dei Gigli, with a large model, lit and with sound, showing Nola on the day of the festival.
Tours & experiences in Nola
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Continue the Nola guide
What to eat here 2
Pizza Napoletana · Caprese
Where to stay
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Events & festivals 1
Next up: Saint Paulinus of Nola, patron remembered by the Festa dei Gigli, a UNESCO heritage, Tuesday 22 June
Getting there
Nearest airport: Napoli Capodichino, 21 km away
Near Nola
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
