LAPIS MUSEUM
The LAPIS Museum, located in the heart of Naples’ historic center inside the Basilica della Pietrasanta, offers an evocative underground tour 35-40 meters below ground and provides a unique sensory experience combining art, history, and ancient hydraulic engineering.
The entire complex extends beneath the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore alla Pietrasanta (in Via dei Tribunali) and also hosts temporary art exhibitions. Inside, the Water Museum, also known as the Decumano Sommerso, has been created. This futuristic project enhances the ancient cisterns of the complex, restoring their function with water and evocative streams, enriched with lights and colors. The route is about one kilometer long and passes through ancient tunnels and tuff cavities, used as quarries by the Greeks and later as Greco-Roman cisterns.
The underground tells the story of World War II, with rooms that were used as shelters, now enriched with multimedia installations that evoke life at that time. The installations also include the “Sala della Luna” (recreation of the ancient temple of the goddess Diana), the “Sala dei racconti” with holograms, and immersive projections about the bombings.
The underground route can also be reached by the Archaeological Elevator, an innovative glass structure that connects the Basilica to the underground in just 20 seconds, allowing visitors to observe the historical stratification of the ground during the descent.
