Herculaneum launches new app for visitors as excavations resume.

Herculaneum, the ancient Roman city buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, reopened two of its most magnificent residences on Wednesday after 25 years.

The frescoed House of the Tuscan Colonnade and the House of the Wooden Sacello were restored as part of a public-private conservation partnership between the Packard Humanities Institute, a philanthropic foundation, and the Herculaneum Archaeological Park.

Speaking at the reopening ceremony, Italy's culture minister Alessandro Giuli said the alliance with the Packard Humanities Institute, in place for the past 24 years, has proven to be "fruitful and far-sighted".

Giuli said the partnership will continue "with an investment of about €45 million, allowing the resumption of archaeological excavations on the site, the study and application of new technologies to research and the fruition of heritage, the construction of storerooms and laboratories".

Ercolano, presentata oggi, alla presenza del Ministro della Cultura @AlessGiuli, la conclusione della prima fase del #ProgettoDomus, con l’apertura, dopo oltre 25 anni, di due tra le più belle residenze dell’antica città.https://t.co/cxLecpzXLb pic.twitter.com/29VAw32HqN

— Ministero della Cultura (@MiC_Italia) March 19, 2025

Work is also underway on the suburban baths, one of the most important public buildings in Herculaneum and among the best preserved ancient thermal complexes in the ancient world.

Architect Jane Thompson of the Packard Humanities Insitute said the Herculaneum Conservation Project (HCP) is entering "a new, even more important phase."

The construction of a new complex of buildings, set back to the south of the archaeological site, together with the elimination of existing modern infrastructure, will pave the way for "two epochal turning points", she said.

The move will allow for the resumption of archaeological excavations to the east "on a scale comparable only to that of the time of Amedeo Maiuri" - about 100 years ago - and the creation of "a green landscape" for those exploring the ancient city.

The combined action of these projects will make the Herculaneum Archaeological Park, "in the medium and long term, a very important international point of reference for humanistic studies", Thompson added.

Francesco Sirano, director of the Herculaneum Archaeological Park, also unveiled a new app with itineraries and discoveries as part of an effort to offer visitors "an unprecedented experience".

The app, available in nine languages, allows visitors to choose between five itineraries based on thematic content, age and travel times for a visit tailored to everyone.  

"With the new app, each visitor will not only be able to explore our sites, but also get in touch with our digital archive, a heritage that grows every day thanks to the conservation and research work that we carry out with passion."

In a statement, the culture ministry said the reopened houses and new digital tools add to the offer already available to visitors, making the "experience of walking in a Roman city even more fascinating and rich in content, putting you in direct contact with the daily life of the Herculaneum people of 2,000 years ago".

Photos Emanuele Antonio Minerva – Ministero della Cultura.