These are not definitive data, but already significantly flattering for the cultural sites of Campania which record, on the first Sunday of free admission in June, coinciding with the celebration of 2 June, yet another confirmation of the primacy for Pompeii and the record number of visitors for the Royal Palace of Caserta. In particular, the Pompeii Archaeological Park – Pompeii Archaeological Area has so far recorded 27,250 entries; the Pantheon 11,957; the Royal Palace of Caserta 11,399 visitors; then come the Uffizi Galleries – The Uffizi with 10,642; Uffizi Galleries – Pitti Palace with 7,171; the Colosseum archaeological park – Colosseum. Flavian Amphitheater 7,096 (the Park was open from 2.15pm for the parade on 2 June); Gallery of the Academy of Florence 6,870; Archaeological parks of Paestum and Velia – Museum and archaeological area of Paestum 5,430; Castel Sant’Angelo 5,302; Royal Palace of Naples 5,214; Royal Museums of Turin 5,015; National Archaeological Museum of Naples 5,000; Castel Sant’Elmo and Museum of the Twentieth Century in Naples 4,175; National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art 3.804; Archaeological Park of the Colosseum – Roman Forum and Palatine Hill 3,644 (the Park was open from 2.15pm for the parade on 2 June); Villae – Villa d’Este 3,121; Ducal Palace of Mantua 3,056; Brera Art Gallery 3,025; National Galleries of Ancient Art – Palazzo Barberini 3.016; Historical Museum and the Miramare Castle Park – Historical Museum 3.013; Herculaneum archaeological park 2,976; Bargello Museums – Medici Chapels 2,570; Certosa and Museum of San Martino 2,357; Swabian castle of Bari 2,260; Baths of Caracalla 2,204; Castel del Monte 2,146; Galleries of the Academy of Venice 1.941; Capodimonte Museum 1.931; Borghese Gallery 1,930; Monumental Complex and Museum of the Certosa di Pavia 1,759; Leonardo’s Last Supper 1,720; National Roman Museum – Palazzo Massimo 1,681; Villae – Hadrian’s Villa 1,671; Ducal Palace of Urbino 1,615; Pilotta monumental complex 1.614; National archaeological museum of Reggio Calabria 1,598; Farnese Palace of Caprarola 1,431; National Roman Museum – Baths of Diocletian 1,365; National Roman Museum – Palazzo Altemps 1,284; Bargello Museums – Bargello National Museum 1,210; National archaeological museum of Taranto 1,186; Caves of Catullus and Archaeological Museum of Sirmione 1,130; National Gallery of Umbria 1.008; Museum of Civilizations 934; Scaligero Castle of Sirmione 906; Palazzo Grimani Museum 886; National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia 838; National Museums of Cagliari 811; Bargello Museums – Orsanmichele Complex 771; National Art Gallery of Bologna 765; Girolamini Monumental Complex and Library 717; National archaeological museum of Sperlonga and archaeological area 662; Spada Gallery 660; National Galleries of Ancient Art – Corsini Gallery 643; National Museum of Abruzzo in L’Aquila 615; Pompeii archaeological park – Villa di Poppea-Oplontis 606; Cerveteri and Tarquinia archaeological park – Monterozzi Necropolis and National Archaeological Museum of Tarquinia 560; Giorgio Franchetti Gallery at Ca’ d’Oro 500; National archaeological museum of Lomellina 477; Cerveteri and Tarquinia archaeological park – Banditaccia Necropolis and Cerite National Archaeological Museum in Cerveteri 474; National Archaeological Museum of Florence 472; Museum of Oriental Art Venice 410; Appia Antica archaeological park – Mausoleum of Cecilia Metella and Church of San Nicola 365; Archaeological Park of the Campi Flegrei – Archaeological Museum of the Campi Flegrei in the Castle of Baia 340; Hendrik Christian Andersen House Museum 325; Pompeii archaeological park – Antiquarium of Boscoreale 313; Campi Flegrei archaeological park – Cuma archaeological park 308.
Added to these data are the 13,467 visitors to the ViVe – Vittoriano and Palazzo Venezia (open today starting from 12.00 for the parade on 2 June) and the 11,269 visitors to the Uffizi Galleries – Boboli Gardens.
For the Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano, «today was a day of celebration for our Republic, in which we honored the values of national cohesion. I strongly wanted cultural heritage to be the protagonist in an identity-defining event like this. Since last year, in fact, in addition to the first Sundays of the month in which free entry is provided to museums and archaeological parks, I wanted to add three other highly symbolic dates in our history: 25 April, 2 June and 4 November . According to the first numbers on visitor turnout, There were many who wanted to celebrate the Republic by visiting the state’s places of culture. A choice that testifies to the centrality of our artistic and architectural heritage as well as our museums which are increasingly seen as key places in the Italian identity geography.”
