Despite the heat, we continue in our research and enhancement of small Campania museums, which have those characteristics of accessibility that make them usable by people in wheelchairs. And when, as in this case, accessibility is combined with the display of particularly interesting material, the pleasure is double. Tuesday 18 we went to the town of Sarno (SA), which became sadly famous in 1998 for the disastrous flood that caused more than one hundred deaths; the purpose was to visit the National Archaeological Museum of the Sarno Valley (*), a small state structure housed in the eighteenth-century Palazzo Capua, of which we show the beautiful stone portal:
The Museum is very well described on the MIC website (https://www.beniculturali.it/luogo/museo-archeologico-nazionale-della-valle-del-sarno), whose text we will sack without restraint; for our part we add that, for those coming with their own car, about fifty meters before the museum entrance, on Via Camillo Benso Conte di Cavour, there are some parking spaces for the disabled. The Museum, inaugurated on 1 July 2011, satisfied the need to make known the archaeological finds from all over the Agro Nocerino-Sarnese area, from the prehistoric age to the medieval period. In addition to a small selection of prehistoric materials (4th millennium - 10th century BC), a selection of the funerary objects from the protohistoric necropolises of the Sarno Valley (9th-6th century BC) are exhibited in a chronological itinerary. a particular expression of the "Culture of pit tombs" widespread at the time in various areas of ancient Italy.
Particularly striking is the rich funeral equipment of tomb 818, female, of the orientalizing period (mid-eighth - early seventh BC), which highlights the important social role played by women of rank in the indigenous culture of the time. The kit is embellished with silver, faience, amber, bronze jewels, such as fibulae, armillas, necklaces, scarabs, rings, bracelets and a belt that adorned the body and the dress, while the clay vascular kit and of mixture is of local production, import and Greek imitation and is characterized by a rich variety of shapes and decorations.
These instead are some finds from the Villa of Numerio Popidio Narcisso, found in nearby Scafati; the villa was destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, the same that destroyed Pompeii:
Remarkable are the reconstructions of the box tombs - from the second half of the 4th century. BC, found in the locality of Galitta del Capitano in Sarno, made of tuff, plastered and painted with polychrome figured scenes, admirably preserved, which represent valuable examples of a widespread production in Ager Campanus and in ancient Lucania, and of which important examples are known in Capua, Nola and Paestum.
The tomb called "of the Knight" depicts the usual scene in the funerary painting of the time, of the "return of the warrior welcomed by the family": the knight returns home laden with the remains of the defeated enemy, in the company of a second younger warrior and they are welcomed by women who offer them the ritual libation. The depiction of the white-haired knight is unusual.
The second floor of the building, which used to be the "noble floor", is still undergoing restoration, but retains notable frescoed walls and attics from the 18th century. And then, while we wait for these restorations to be completed and we can return to the museum to see the many finds that it is not yet possible to exhibit, let's move on to the "refreshment" part of our post, indicating the restaurant we found, of excellent quality and fully meeting our requirements: Osteria dei Sarrasti (*): Via Ingegno 6, Sarno +39 081 967266/339 5792399 https://osteria-dei-sarrasti-sarno.eatbu.com (*) symbol indicating the presence of toilets equipped for the disabled And maybe, when we return to Sarno, we will be able to go to Foce, where there is a river park which, judging by the photos on the Facebook page, should be accessible by wheelchair. If any of you go there before us, let us know and maybe send us the photos.
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