An immersive Pompeii exhibition will land in London this autumn

"The name is unlikely to be familiar to you, but two of this year's biggest hit London exhibitions have come from a Spanish company called Madrid Artes Digitales (MAD). Long story short, it specialises in immersive historical shows that blend the nuts and bolts of any exhibition (historic artefacts and the like) with spectacularly dressed rooms and show-stopping digital sections (VR and the like) that open the appeal up to audiences that might find the British Museum's latest a little on the dry side."

"Pompeii was a Roman town that was wiped out by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the year 79AD. However, its last moments were exceptionally well preserved, and while we're not short on documentation of the Roman Empire, Pompeii is responsible for much of our best evidence of what typical Roman domestic life was like. Plus at a remove 2,000 people getting wiped out by a volcano is a pretty gripping story."

"It'll begin with an actual recreation of bits of Pompeii as it was - combined with period artefacts - before moving on to casts of the city's dead citizen (their outlines were preserved in calcified ash) and then eventually the fancy digital stuff, which includes a free-roaming VR journey through the city as it was, and a huge immersive digital film section that charts the eruption of Vesuvius without anyone actually getting hurt."

Madrid Artes Digitales (MAD) produces immersive historical exhibitions that combine physical artefacts, reconstructed environments, casts, and large-scale digital media. Recent 2025 productions include Tutankhamun: The Immersive Experience and The Legend of the Titanic. The Last Days of Pompeii is a 10-gallery presentation at ImmerseLDN, Canada Water, recreating parts of the ancient city with period artefacts, displaying casts of victims preserved in calcified ash, and offering advanced digital elements. The digital elements include a free-roaming VR reconstruction of the city and a vast immersive film that charts Mount Vesuvius's eruption. Pompeii's preservation provides exceptional evidence of Roman domestic life, broadening public appeal.

Read at Time Out London