Museo Paludi di Celano ( Italian for ''Swamps of Celano Museum'') is an archaeology museum in

Celano Celano is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of L'Aquila, central Italy, east of Rome by rail. Geography Celano rises on the top of a hill in the territory of Marsica, below the mountain range of Sirente. It faces the valley of Fucino, once ...

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...

). Since December 2014, the Ministry of Culture has managed it through the Abruzzo Museum Pole, which became the Regional Directorate of Museums in December 2019.

History

The museum structure was built a few years after the discovery of the pile-dwelling settlement of Celano-Paludi, which came to light beginning in 1984. That year, excavation operations started in the area, initially revealing a rich presence of wooden and ceramic materials. Subsequently, thanks to studies and further archaeological excavations, a pile-dwelling village was uncovered on the shores of

Fucino The Fucine Lake ( it, Lago Fucino or ) was a large endorheic lake in western Abruzzo, central Italy, stretching from Avezzano in the northwest to Ortucchio in the southeast, and touching Trasacco in the southwest. Once the third largest lake in I ...

, with evidence of its settlement dating back between 3600 and 3700 years ago, while its major expansion dates back to the 12th century BC.

Collection

These are artifacts ranging from the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

to the

Roman era In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

. The museum building's design, largely underground, is by architects Ettore De Lellis and Pierluigi Natalucci. The structure's uniqueness lies in its shape, reminiscent of the mound tombs of the protohistoric era, of which the Marsica territory is rich in evidence. The museum, for several years dedicated exclusively to prehistoric artifacts, now also hosts spaces for temporary exhibitions, a conference room, large restoration laboratories, and anthropological spaces illustrating the history of the Marsica from the first human settlements in caves and pile-dwelling villages. In some storerooms, artworks from Abruzzo municipalities in the seismic crater area that were damaged by the

2009 L'Aquila earthquake The 2009 L'Aquila earthquake occurred in the region of Abruzzo, in central Italy. The main shock occurred at 03:32 CEST (01:32 UTC) on 6 April 2009, and was rated 5.8 or 5.9 on the Richter magnitude scale and 6.3 on the moment magnitude scale; ...

are preserved. The museum, one of the largest in central Italy, covers an area of 5000 square meters and is adjacent to an artificial marsh, partly used to recreate scenes from the pile-dwelling village. In one of the artificial lakes, there are several remains of large oak poles and the necropolis, which alone has yielded six tumulus burials. A walkway allows visitors to observe the external environments of the museum from above. Internally, the rooms are structured as follows: Exhibition space, where temporary exhibitions of archaeological finds are hosted. Multimedia section, illustrating the climatic and anthropological changes in the area. Permanent exhibition, presenting artifacts from across the regional territory, dating from the

Paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

to the 1st century BC. Anthropology laboratory. Restoration laboratory. Conference room.

Notes

External links

* * {{coord, 42.0527, N, 13.5145, E, source:wikidata, display=title Celano Museums in Abruzzo Archaeological museums in Italy National museums of Italy