The route of the Provincial Archaeological Museum of Salerno
The route of the Provincial Archaeological Museum of Salerno begins with the Lapidary which occupies the outdoor spaces in front of the entrance to the Museum and the adjoining viridarium, where statues, figurative reliefs, and honorary bases are exhibited, mostly coming from Roman Salerno and uncovered since the Seventeenth century.
Lower floor of the Provincial Archaeological Museum of Salerno
The visit continues inside the lower floor, with a chronological and topographical exhibition of the entire Salerno territory, integrated with new sites and finds recovered from storage from old excavations and donations since 1928.
The prehistoric section includes materials from both the Paleolithic and Neolithic from the caves of Polla, Pertosa, Palinuro, Molpa, and Caprioli, as well as the Eneolithic, from the area of Fratte, the oldest settlement in the municipality of Salerno. The Iron Age is documented by Villanovan finds (9th-8th century BC), from Pontecagnano and Sala Consilina.
The culture of inhumation as that of Oliveto-Cairano in the Salerno area is evidenced by burial goods from the 8th-6th centuries BC, while the so-called “Orientalizing” phase, characterized by ceramics with geometric decoration, is attested by finds from Arenòsola at the mouth of the Sele.
Following is the exhibition of the Greek period, which documents the culture and exchanges between the Magna Graecia centers of the Tyrrhenian and Ionian seas. Enriching the typical male and female costumes from various sites in Salerno is a collection of amber necklaces and other jewelry, accompanied by ivory and glass paste, with pendants shaped like female heads or Silenus heads, from the 5th and 4th centuries BC, as well as numerous Samnite belts and beautiful bronze helmets from various periods.
Upper floor of the Provincial Archaeological Museum of Salerno
The upper floor houses materials from the city of Salerno, ideally connecting back to the Lapidary section, from the rise in the 6th century BC of the ancient center of Fratte, a suburb northeast of Salerno, to the 5th-6th centuries AD, a late antique phase of Roman Salernum founded as a colony in 194 BC. Funeral goods from the seaside area are displayed: lamps, vases, and tombstones relating to a period that extends until the 4th century AD, and a beautiful bronze head of Apollo, found in the waters of the Gulf of Salerno in 1930, which became the symbol of the Provincial Museums of Salerno. The exhibition is completed by a very rich numismatic collection.
The San Benedetto Complex
The Provincial Archaeological Museum of Salerno is located within the San Benedetto complex, built between the 7th and 9th centuries, near the plateau called “Hortus magnus”, on the eastern walls of the defensive system ordered by Arechi II. In 930 the monastery gained the rank of abbey. Important historical figures were hosted within its walls, such as Abbot Desiderius, future Pope Victor III, and Gregory VII, who died here. The monastery, which over the years passed from the Benedictines to the Olivetans as a result of Napoleonic laws, was suppressed in 1807 and converted into a military district, while the church was used as a Royal Theater before being returned to the Curia only a century later. Several parts of the Romanesque quadriporticus and the Renaissance loggia of the “Castelnuovo Reale,” belonging to Queen Margherita of Durazzo’s palace, have been preserved to this day.
Information about the Provincial Archaeological Museum of Salerno
Via San Benedetto, 28
84122 Salerno (Salerno)
Phone: 089.231135
Email: info@museoarcheologicosalerno.it
Internet: https://www.museoarcheologicosalerno.it
Opening hours
The Museum is open every day except Monday, from 9:00 AM to 7:30 PM.
