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Ice Art Gallery, a Crystal Gem in Central Italy

NAPLES, ITALY - If you ever dream about a universe built of ice, ironically you may have to look for it in the sunny city of Naples in central Italy.  Under the initiative of Mr. Amelio Mazzella di Regnella, a chair of the Italian Association of Ice Sculptors, and with the support of the Naples’ Commune,  the famous Ice Art Gallery is the home of numerous astonishing art pieces and an arena of competition to  ice sculptors from all over the world. 

Being the first one of its kind, the Ice Gallery offers a plethora of marvelous sculptures and brings its guests into the frozen world of ephemeral snow objects. With more than 400 tons of ice transformed into various creative concepts, the Parthenopean museum will certainly appeal to the lovers of delicate art ideas and the seekers of adventurous activities. In order to relish the museum’s ice figures, guests will have to take a tour around a special igloo, constructed with the help of sophisticated modern technologies. Due to the building’s constant temperature of -3 °C (26.6F), kept to maintain the integrity and form of the statues, visitors are required to put on fur clothing, a hat, and gloves when accessing the gallery. A hot drink is also provided on request to warm guests up. The stay is limited to 30 minutes per person and the  maximum allowed number of guests is 30.

The gallery is located on a 120 square meter surface, which consists of two levels that are part of an enormous crystal box, utilized to demonstrate the frost art pieces in the most fascinating and breath-taking way. Every new season dictates the gallery’s current theme which naturally changes over time. The Ice Gallery’s purpose is not only to exhibit fragile art pieces–  its guests can entertain themselves and experience their leisure time to the max. While eyeing the fabulous designs, visitors may choose to grab a cocktail or a coffee in the bar of the ice kingdom and relax  on the delicate ice-made armchairs. The more adventurous can play checkers with real ice pawns at a special frost table.

All ice, which is produced in the Naples zone itself , has been utilized to represent abstract ideas and give life to figurative artistic concepts (as seen in photos 1 - 2) The transparence of the snow-built gallery walls, combined with crystal-clear ice objects that represent marine life such as corals, dolphins and water turtles, gives the place a characteristic sense of glow and a charming mystery. The Ice Gallery in Naples is also a field for creative experiments for  alternative-minded artists who want to pour their creative energy into the construction of ice statues. Following the twenty - year traditions of Oriental and Chinese snow sculptors,  they give expression to their fantasies with the language of ice and snow.

The Ice Art Gallery is a meeting point for art fans. Various cultural events, including book presentations and visual art exhibits, take place there and significantly increase the number of its visitors.

No matter if you look for sight-seeing spots in central Italy, enjoy unusual art ideas, or want to relax in an extraordinary setting, the Naples’ Ice Art Gallery can be your perfect revitalizing adventure.

All photos courtesy of Petia Dimitrova