The National Archaeological Museum of the Marche Region (Museo archeologico nazionale delle Marche) is an archaeological museum in

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...

Marches In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of borderland, as opposed to a national "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which diff ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. It is located in the Palazzo Ferretti, and 13,195 people visited the collections in 2015.Ministero dei Beni e delle Attività Culturali, Visitatori e introiti dei musei
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History

A plan to set up a region-wide archaeological collection in Ancona was first devised the day after approval was granted for the Royal Decree issued by Lorenzo Valerio, the Extraordinary Commissioner for the Marche region, on 3 November 1860. It was a cause much advocated by Count Carlo Rinaldini (1824-1866), a scholar in epigraphy and the secretary of the Commission and by Carisio Ciavarini (1837-1905) from the town of

Pesaro Pesaro () is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Marche, capital of the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the Marche, ...

, a grammar-school

Italian literature Italian literature is written in the Italian language, particularly within Italy. It may also refer to literature written by Italian people, Italians or in Languages of Italy, other languages spoken in Italy, often languages that are closely re ...

teacher. Both men were staunch patriots, supporters of the Italian Risorgimento and members of an enlightened ruling class who were extremely receptive to a positivist approach and keenly aware of the need to break away from the old regime. Creating a Museum which "would house any monuments from the Prehistoric Age onwards discovered in the local area", as Ciavarini started, was directly prompted by his specific academic interest but also by his desire to save the archaeological treasures of the Marche region from the onslaught of the rapacious antique market which was highly active at the time. Later on, the collections of the Museum would also greatly benefit from numerous chance findings as well as from routine excavations performed throughout the region. Indeed, the collection became so complete that the year after Ciavarini died in 1906 it was "royalised" and honoured with the title of the "National Museum of Ancona" (''Museo Nazionale di Ancona''). On 9 October 1927, under the direction of its Superintendent Giuseppe Moretti, the Museum was inaugurated by King

Victor Emmanuel III The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

together with the Honourable Undersecretary Emilio Bodrero and the Director General for Antiques and Fine Arts, Roberto Paribeni. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the Museum was partially damaged by bombs falling on the city in 1943 and 1944. At the end of the war, reconstruction and restoration work on the exhibits took place under the guidance of the new Director and Superintendent Giovanni Annibaldi to whom people could be indebted for the re-opening of the Museum in 1958. Its new premises were to be the magnificent rooms of the 16th century ''Palazzo Feretti''. But disaster struck again and the Museum was forced to shut its doors after the ravages of 1972 earthquake. This time it was the turn of the Superintendent and Director, Delia Lollini, to set to rights the Picene section of the National Archaeological Museum of the Marche region before it could be re-opened to the public in 1988. In the '90s, the Prehistoric and Bronze-Age sections were inaugurated, whilst in 2010 and 2015 the Hellenistic and Roman section dedicated to Ancona was re-opened to the public under the guidance of the Superintendent and Director Giuliano de Marinis with the assistance of the current Museum Director Nicoletta Frapiccini.

The collections

The itinerary of the museum starts on the mezzanine level of the second floor with the Prehistoric section where a showcase with a "touchscreen" glass contains the Frassasi Venus, a precious statuette which is 28 000/25 000 years old. Worthy of note are some ancient

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 ...

instruments exhibits from

Mount Conero Monte Conero () or Mount Conero, also known as Monte d'Ancona (Mount of Ancona), is a promontory in Italy, situated directly south of the port of Ancona on the Adriatic Sea. The name ''Conero'' comes from the Greek name (''Kómaros'') and in ...

which are about 300 000 years old, the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

settlement of Ripabianca di Monterado (6th millennium BC), the Aeneolithic one of Conelle di Arcevia (3rd millennium BC), the twenty five

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...

dagger A dagger is a fighting knife with a very sharp point and usually two sharp edges, typically designed or capable of being used as a thrusting or stabbing weapon.State v. Martin, 633 S.W.2d 80 (Mo. 1982): This is the dictionary or popular-use de ...

s from the depot of Ripatransone (roughly 1800-1600 BC), the Apennine and Subapennine pottery from the Grottoes of the Frassasi gorge (1500-1200 BC) and the Protovillanovian

cremation Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a Cadaver, dead body through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India ...

necropolis A necropolis (plural necropolises, necropoles, necropoleis, necropoli) is a large, designed cemetery with elaborate tomb monuments. The name stems from the Ancient Greek ''nekropolis'', literally meaning "city of the dead". The term usually im ...

from Pianello di Genga (1200-1000 BC). Tour then continues up to the third floor to the Protohistoric section where there are findings relating to the

Picene Picene is a hydrocarbon found in the Pitch (resin), pitchy residue obtained in the distillation of peat tar and of petroleum. This is distilled to dryness and the distillate repeatedly Recrystallization (chemistry), recrystallized from cymene. It ...

settlements during the Protovillanovian Age to the Archaic Age, the Villanovian necropolis of Fermo (8th century BC) and a selection of the most important Picene funerary objects from the princely Orientalizing period, up until the Archaic Age (late 8th to early 6th century BC). During the Orientalizing period, the Picene civilisation adopted oriental social and cultural patterns, partially due to influences from the

Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy *Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization **Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities ** Etrusca ...

world. This influence is visible from their funerary

ritual A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures, words, actions, or objects, performed according to a set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community. Rituals are characterized, b ...

s, burial practices and the repertoire of material culture. The itinerary comes to an end in the room dedicated to Picene stelae and inscriptions. The first floor hosts findings from the Classical and Late Classical Age, when the Picenes had developed cities and the evidences of the funerary objects points to continual contacts with the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

world, Magna Graecia and the Etruscans. This is particularly apparent from the magnificent Numana-Sirolo necropolis with its exquisite

Attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a '' loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the ...

pottery precious etruscan vessels in bronze. From the 4th century BC onwards, a massive influx of

Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...

moved down from

Central Europe Central Europe is an area of Europe between Western Europe and Eastern Europe, based on a common historical, social and cultural identity. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) between Catholicism and Protestantism significantly shaped the area' ...

to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

. The last Celtic tribe to migrate to present-day Italy were the Senoes. They migrated from the outer edge of the

Po Valley The Po Valley, Po Plain, Plain of the Po, or Padan Plain ( it, Pianura Padana , or ''Val Padana'') is a major geographical feature of Northern Italy. It extends approximately in an east-west direction, with an area of including its Venetic ex ...

until they reached the Esino River and occupied the present-day Northern Marche. The Museum exhibits many discoveries from Santa Paolina di Filottrano, San Filippo di Osimo and Montefortino di Arcevia, which includes precious gold jewellery and Celtic weapons. The Roman section includes the

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

and

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

from the temple of Civitalba, a tangible sign of the power of the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

in the Picene region, as well as finds from the necropolis and the settlement of Ancona (4th century BC-8th century AD) which was a lively trading centre with an abundance of superbly refined artefacts and objects imported from all over the Mediterranean area.

Gallery

File:Museo archeologico nazionale delle Marche.jpg File:Ankonski arheološki muzej.jpg File:Arheološki muzej Ancone.jpg File:Arheološki muzej grada Ancone.jpg File:Izložak ankonskoga muzeja.jpg File:U ankonskome arheološkom muzeju.jpg File:U Anconi u muzeju 2017.jpg

References

External links

* {{authority control Museums in Marche Buildings and structures in Ancona National museums of Italy Archaeological museums in Italy Numismatic museums in Italy Museums of ancient Rome in Italy Museums of ancient Greece in Italy