The National Archaeological Museum of Naples - MANN is among the oldest and most important in the world for the richness and uniqueness of its archaeological heritage . The origin and formation of its collections are linked to the figure of Charles III of Bourbon who, having ascended to the throne of the Kingdom of Naples in 1734, promoted the exploration of the Vesuvian cities buried by the eruption of 79 AD and the project of a Farnesian Museum , with the transfer to the city of part of the rich collection inherited from her mother Elisabetta.

The decision to bring together the Farnese collection and the Vesuvian collection , which constitute the two main nuclei of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples - MANN , is due to his son Ferdinando IV. An important collection of Egyptian finds is also kept here, which ranks only after that of the Egyptian Museum of Cairo and the Egyptian Museum of Turin.

The building, built at the end of the 1500s with the destination of riding and since 1616 the seat of the University, was interested starting from 1777 by a long phase of renovation works, entrusted to the architects Fuga and Schiantarelli. The first installations saw the light during the French decade (1806-1815) and, with the return of the Bourbons to Naples in 1816, the Museum took the name of Real Bourbon Museum . Conceived as an encyclopedic institution, the building housed various institutes and laboratories, which were subsequently moved to other locations.

With the unification of Italy the Museum became National. Its collections have been progressively enriched through the experts coming from excavations conducted in Southern Italy , as well as from private collecting.

The transfer of the Pinacoteca to Capodimonte in 1957 determined its current appearance as an Archaeological Museum.