To experience the end of Pompeii as just another citizen

BarcelonaPompeii, whose excavation began in the 18th century, is like a vast encyclopedia to which new pages are added every day thanks to the work of archaeologists. There is a great deal of research surrounding the city that disappeared in October of 79 AD, when Mount Vesuvius violently spewed a deadly cloud of tephra and superheated gases. The exhibition The Last Days of Pompeii, which opens on March 20 at the Victoria Eugenia Palace.temporary headquarters of Ideal while the works are carried out in the Poblenou space— It explains part of the archaeological research, but above all, it's a truly immersive adventure.

Visitors can climb onto a beam pulled by two horses, burst into an amphitheater and step into the shoes of a wiry gladiator facing off against a much larger one equipped with a net and trident, confront a tiger, and end up underwater to witness a ship. The amphitheater, built in 70 BC, is just the introduction to a journey through a vast 2,000 m² space.²who has traveled the world. This immersive experience won the National Readers' Choice Award. National Geographic History

The dramatic disappearance of the city has inspired novels, films, and series where action is often interwoven with personal stories, all seasoned with a healthy dose of romance. Much of this fictionalized account originates from the pen of Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873), a British baron, Conservative politician, and author of 40 volumes, including novels, plays, and poetry collections. During his lifetime, he enjoyed enormous success, publishing a best-seller One after another. "In the 19th century, the wealthiest families took grand trips around Europe, and when Bulwer-Lytoon returned from Pompeii, he wrote a novel with romantic elements. It doesn't have much to do with everything that has been discovered since through archaeological research, but it is the origin of the artistic and visual canon that has shaped our vision of The Ideal. The exhibition," Sellas explains, "combines both elements. 'We play with fiction and the scientific perspective,' he says."

The Origin of Objects

There are some real objects, from Félix Cervera's private collection, and others that are replicas. One of the rooms explains the recovery of the bodies; the archaeological site currently holds the remains of more than a thousand victims of the 79 AD eruption found in the city. To illustrate this, there are replicas of a mother with her children and of a citizen awaiting death, seated in his home. "Giuseppe Fiorelli, one of the most influential directors of the Pompeii excavations, perfected the recovery of bodies in 1863," explains Míriam Huéscar, curator of the exhibit. When lava and ash covered Pompeii, the victims' bodies decomposed over time, but left empty spaces in the hardened ash layer. Fiorelli filled these gaps with liquid plaster. When he removed the ash, an exact mold of the body remained, including position, clothing, and expressions. Visitors can also take a journey back in time in a large immersive room, which houses a 360° projection that brings the eruption to life firsthand.

The Villa of the Mysteries is one of the most spectacular Roman residences at the Pompeii archaeological site. Discovered at the beginning of the 20th century, it was built in the early 2nd century BC as a luxurious residential villa. The large-scale mural frescoes are quite spectacular, depicting initiation into Dionysian rituals, with Bacchantes, in some cases represented as dancers, young satyrs, some playing the double flute, and others performing the wine sacrifice. Thanks to the metaverse, visitors can see how this residence rises from the ashes and reveals, in all its splendor, the wine cellar, the cloister, and the baths. On Thursday evening, the night before the inauguration, the steps of Montjuïc will be filled with Romans. More than 50 members of the Manaías de Banyoles, a group that traditionally participates in many festivities and celebrations wearing uniforms inspired by Roman soldiers, will parade around the Victoria Eugenia Palace. This is just one more element of an experience that invites you to step into the shoes of a citizen of Pompeii and relive its tragic end.