The Egyptian Museum and the rock chapel

A few steps from Piazza Castello, an elegant Baroque palace houses the Egyptian Museum. Founded in 1824, the museum is today one of the most important Egyptological collections internationally and is a unique reference point in Europe for the study and discovery of ancient Egyptian culture. The collection includes statues, papyri, sarcophagi and objects of everyday life, offering a journey through more than 4,000 years of history, art and archaeology. The exhibition is constantly evolving thanks to an ongoing project, with new areas and multimedia displays that enrich the visitor experience and make each visit unique. Among these, the rock chapel of Ellesija, an authentic ancient Egyptian temple transferred stone by stone to Italy, is worth a close look. It is an extraordinary structure that provides a close-up view of the spirituality and architecture of Pharaonic times. Originating from Nubia and donated to Italy in the 1960s, the Chapel is one of the temples saved from submergence caused by the construction of the Aswan Dam. Thanks to a new installation that includes video projections and videomapping, it is possible to discover the space dedicated to this extraordinary monument in a new light. The project involved the collaboration of restorers, Egyptologists, epigraphists, curators, photographers and conservation scientists. Scientific investigations have made it possible, among other things, to identify traces of original pigments no longer visible to the naked eye, revealing new elements about the decoration and history of the Chapel.