MUSEO NAZIONALE FERROVIARIO DI PIETRARSA

Destination Naples

THE NATIONAL RAILWAY MUSEUM OF PIETRARSA

THE HISTORY AND THE COLLECTION

The Pietrarsa Museum, one of the most evocative museums in our area, allows you to embark on a fascinating journey through time among the locomotives and trains that have united Italy from 1839 to the present day, in the 180-year history of Italian railways.

The buildings that now house the museum are the pavilions of the Royal Mechanical, Pyrotechnic and Locomotive Factory founded by Ferdinand II of Bourbon in 1840 to free the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies from the English and French technical supremacy. The workshops were built precisely in correspondence with the first Italian railway section, the Naples-Portici line, inaugurated on October 3, 1839.
Pietrarsa therefore represents the first Italian industrial nucleus (it precedes the foundation of Breda by 44 years and that of Fiat by 57), active until the 1970s, when the rise of electric and diesel locomotives determined the decline of steam and, at the same time, the factory. In 1977 the workshops were then destined to become a railway museum, inaugurated in 1989 after the adaptation works.
Thanks to the restoration work that took place between 2014 and 2017, the National Museum of Pietrarsa has become the prestigious and fascinating place we know today.
The architecture of the nineteenth-century pavilions have been restored and the outdoor spaces enhanced with the planting of the Mediterranean Garden and a new glass parapet for the terrace on the seafront, which offers a unique view of the Gulf of Naples. New technologies also play an important role in the new life of the museum: the cinema room equipped with the most performing audio and video equipment, the comfortable and functional congress hall and the new interactive visit methods, with virtual reality systems and dedicated apps, make Pietrarsa one of the most important railway museums in Europe.
The Museum is spread over an area of ​​36,000 square meters, of which 14,000 are covered, and it is divided into pavilions and sectors in which material of absolute value is exhibited, including: the faithful reproduction of the Bayard, the inaugural train of the first Naples railway section – Porticoes of 1839; carriage 10 of the Royal Train built by Fiat in 1929 for the wedding of Umberto II of Savoy with Maria Josè of Belgium; several steam, diesel and electric locomotives, models, various railway objects including the famous model “Trecentotreni” 18 meters long and more than 2 wide, which was built by a railway worker in over 15 years.


A DREAM LOCATION

The National Railway Museum of Pietrarsa is located right on the sea, in an area on the border between Naples and Portici, with Vesuvius a stone's throw away and a spectacular view of the Gulf of Naples, the Sorrento Peninsula and the beautiful islands of Capri and Ischia. The site is today not only a favorite destination for many tourists every year, but also one of the largest event and conference centers in the south. An ideal place for events of various kinds, with its large rooms, which can be rented for corporate or private events, it is one of the largest Events and Convention Centers in the South of Italy, capable of accommodating up to 2,500 people. The architectural and environmental characteristics make Pietrarsa an ideal and unique place thanks to the setting of historic rolling stock and railway memorabilia. Companies and individuals can rent one or more spaces of the Museum, making their event an opportunity to retrace a chapter of Italian history.
Unique and versatile location, it has rooms that can accommodate from 20 to 1000 people. All the outdoor spaces, terraces overlooking the sea, gardens, the magnificent amphitheatre, and the historic canopy, can accommodate more than 2000 people at the same time, and all enjoy a splendid view of the Gulf of Naples.
If you want to organize an event in a truly unique venue and for enthusiasts of this sector, you can invite your guests to the large historic rooms of the museum site, which will offer you a journey through time over more than 180 years among locomotives, trains and carriages that have united Italy from 1839 to the present day.
There are many rooms that can be rented for your event. The great hall of steam locomotives gives the possibility to create different types of set-up, in a very large space of 5,000 square meters.
The Workshop Machinery Room is a second room that can be rented inside which machinery dating back to the early 1900s is exhibited. This room has a capacity of 400 people and can be used for light lunches and business dinners. In the same Pavilion there is the "Sala dei Cinquecento" Auditorium, equipped with a stage, screen and velvet armchairs, which can hold up to 400 people.
Then there is the Conference Area, which offers everything you need for organizing meetings, conferences and congresses for up to 130 people.
Inside the Conference Area there are also smaller rooms, such as the Library room and the meeting room, ideal and perfectly equipped for small meetings.
Finally, for small exclusive events, there is the possibility to rent Caffè Bayard, an elegant cafeteria built on the model of the Cloister of Santa Chiara, with the finest materials of our territory, and the "Vesuvio" Restaurant Car, located inside the botanical gardens, with luxurious wooden interiors.
The seaside location also offers numerous outdoor options, such as the terraces where you can organize a welcome drink or light lunch. Furthermore, there is a very characteristic amphitheatre, and finally the area below the historic platform roof originally located in the Fiorenzuola D'Arda station in Emilia Romagna, both with breathtaking views of the Gulf.
The architectural and environmental characteristics make Pietrarsa an inimitable place, with its historic rolling stock and railway memorabilia that frame the wonderful scenery.

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