The Museum of Pietrarsa, one of the most evocative museums in Italy, offers a fascinating journey through time among the locomotives and carriages which united Italy from 1839 to modern times, spanning the 180 year history of the Italian Railways.

It is housed in one of the most industrial archaeological sites, the “Royal Workshop for Mechanical Works, Ammunition production and Locomotive manufacture”, founded by Ferdinand II of Bourbon in 1840, in occasion of the inauguration of the first Italian railway line “Naples to Portici”.

It covers a surface of 36,000 square metres, including a covered area of 14,000 square metres, and it is divided into pavilions and sections in which materials of great value are exhibited. The railway collection includes: a faithful reproduction of the “Bayard”, the train that inaugurated the first railway line “Naples to Portici” in 1839; the carriage 10 of the Royal Train built by Fiat in 1929 for the marriage of Umberto II of Savoy to Maria José of Belgium; steam locomotives, diesel and electric trains, railway material such as the model “Trecentotreni”, 18 metres long and more than 2 metres wide made by a railwayman in over 15 years.

The Museum lies on the sea, with the Vesuvio on the background and a spectacular view over the Gulf of Naples with the islands of Capri, Ischia and the Sorrento Coast. It is one of the most important Railway Museums in Europe for its historical architecture and the wealth of materials on display.