Pompeii was an Italian city ravaged by a volcanic explosion that left the entire civilization covered and its inhabitants lifeless yet preserved in ash. The Leonardo Museum is in Downtown Salt Lake. The Leonardo temporarily has an exhibit with ancient artifacts, clues to what life was like in Pompeii, and what the damage from the volcanic destruction was like. The exhibit will only be displayed until the May 3 of this year. The Leonardo suggests that you allow a minimum of one hour to experience what the exhibit has to offer. If your curiosity is insatiable, plan for up to two hours to get the full experience.

The Pompeii exhibit features over 200 real artifacts, nearly 2,000 years old that have been preserved in ash. The artifacts range from gladiator helmets, to mosaics. You’ll get to see what the citizens of Pompeii had to experience in the eruption theatre which recreates the catastrophic power of Mount Vesuvius by using audio and visuals. Mount Vesuvius was the volcano that destroyed the city with its eruption.

The museum’s focus is on the works of Leonardo Davinci. The museum provides more exhibits as well, the Pompeii exhibit is the most recent traveling exhibit. In an interview with Ian Hauritz an admissions worker at The Leonardo Museum. Ian told us what his favorite exhibit is. “My personal favorite is the From Mines to Vines exhibit which is about the removing of land-mines in places like Southeast Asia and turning those areas into agricultural areas.” Ian then proceeded to tell us about the variety of the other exhibits. “The Alive exhibit which is about human life, the Flight exhibit which is all about the history of flight and you can climb into the cockpit of a real C-131, The perception exhibit which focuses on Illusions, and the art exhibit which is about art and their artists.” The Leonardo is a very interactive museum. If you haven’t yet gone hurry so you can experience the Pompeii exhibit while it’s here.