The MUV – Museum and Documentation Center of the Villanovan Civilization, housed in the former barn of the rural complex of Casa Sant’Anna in Villanova di Castenaso, stands exactly where, between 1853 and 1856, the Bolognese archaeologist Count Giovanni Gozzadini discovered and identified traces of the earliest phase of the Etruscan civilization, which developed between the early 1st millennium BC (Iron Age) and the last decades of the 8th century BC, until then unknown in Italy, to which Gozzadini himself decided to give the name “Villanovan.”
The MUV exhibits important finds from excavations discovered in Marano di Castenaso: among these are the funerary equipment from numerous tombs, certainly of aristocrats, given the particular richness of the artifacts and the presence of many warriors.
The museum features a dedicated exhibit path focused on the stelae that formed the monumental equipment of the Marano necropolis. These are 8 funerary markers made of sandstone and limestone, some attributable to the class of “Proto-Felsinean Stelae,” rectangular in shape with an overhanging disk, featuring a complex low-relief figurative decoration.
Of enormous value is the “Sword Stela,” which has no comparison with other Villanovan stelae found: it depicts a duel between two warriors and is surmounted by a lion and other geometric figures.
Inside the exhibition, sounds, video installations, and interactive stations accompany visitors through the life and rites of the Villanovan civilization.
Since May 2013, the MUV has been enriched with materials from the funerary equipment belonging to tombs 1,7,8, and 9 of the Orientalizing necropolis of Marano.
Information about Muv – Museum of the Villanovan Civilization
Via Tosarelli, 191
Castenaso (Bologna)
051 780021
muv@comune.castenaso.bo.it
Tuesday 3:00 PM – 7:00 PM Wednesday and Thursday 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM Friday 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM Saturday 9:00 AM – 1:00 PM Opening on request Tuesday 8:30 AM – 1:30 PM
Free entrance Guided tours for a fee
Source: MIBACT
