Il Museo, established on March 5, 1997 by Bishop Antonio Pagano, is divided into two locations: the first, which includes the section dedicated to sacred art, is exhibited in the rooms of the Seminary Palace, located in the Municipality of Ischia, and the second, which houses the archaeological section, is part of the complex of the Pontifical Basilica of S. Restituta, located in the Municipality of Lacco Ameno.
Sezione Arte Sacra.
Divided into five sections (marbles, sculptures, paintings, silverware, and various artifacts); the objects come from the churches of the diocese and in particular from the current Cathedral which collected the furnishings of the Cathedral on the Aragonese Castle, bombed in 1809. Notable is a lid of a paleochristian sarcophagus with five evangelical scenes dated between the 4th and 5th century AD.
Sezione Archeologica.
An example of the enhancement of an archaeological excavation area then turned into a museum, it illustrates the history of the settlement of Pithecusae from the archaic age to the medieval period. The area (1000 sqm), distributed between the building annexed to the Basilica and the underlying area, is articulated in three rooms and in the four sectors of the excavation area.
Sale I-II-III.
Liturgical furnishings, wooden statues of saints, majolica from the 18th and 19th centuries Neapolitan schools are exhibited; interesting are the glazed ceramics with stripes (from the 6th to the 16th century).
Settore I.
The area, identified with the artisan quarter (keramèikos) of ancient Pithecusae, shows the kilns, different from each other in shape, size, and chronology (from the 8th century BC up to the Hellenistic period), in which the production of ceramics, tiles, and large containers took place. At the bottom, the remains of a necropolis from the Roman-Imperial age.
Settore II.
There is a tomb with an “arcosolium” (burial from the late antique age with a lowered arch). A wall in opus reticulatum, tombs dug into the floor surface, and a small structure in local stone made it possible to attribute the area to the Paleochristian Basilica of the 5th century AD.
Settore III.
Prehistoric ceramics, locally produced Greco-Archaic ceramics, original Corinthian and local imitation ceramics, from the classical and Hellenistic age are exhibited.
Settore IV.
The necropolis covers a wide chronological range from the 2nd-3rd century BC (cappuccina tombs) up to the 6th-8th century AD (tombs made with cover of discarded tiles).
Information about the Diocesan Museum of Ischia
Palazzo Vescovile Via Seminario, 26 (sacred art section); Basilica Santa Restituta- Piazza S. Restitut,
80077 Ischia (Naples)
081 991706 – 081 982708
mudis07@libero.it
Source: MIBACT
