Museo archeologico nazionale di Venafro

About the museum

The museum opened in June 1931 to display materials that had come to light by chance, a little over ten years earlier, during works at the foot of Monte Santa Croce. The Second World War led to its closure, and the convent housed evacuees and school classrooms. In the 1970s, after the municipality of Venafro had donated the former convent of Santa Chiara to the State, the Soprintendenza of Molise rebuilt the museum on its present site.

Since December 2014 the museum has been run by the Ministry of Culture, first through the Polo museale del Molise and, from 2019, through the Direzione regionale Musei nazionali Molise. It occupies the 17th-century complex of Santa Chiara, with its cloister, in the historic centre of Venafro.

The collections document the territory of ancient Venafrum from prehistory to the Middle Ages. The Samnite period is represented by the grave goods from the Pozzilli necropolis (6th–4th centuries BC), including a reconstructed tomb. The Roman section includes marble, friezes, statues, funerary inscriptions and cippi; from the Middle Ages stand out the materials from the abbey of San Vincenzo al Volturno and the chess pieces known as “scacchi di Venafro”.

Among the main finds are the Venere di Venafro, an Antonine-period copy of the Venere Landolina, the large head of a Gorgon, the Tavola Acquaria with Augustus's edict on the Roman aqueduct, and an alabaster altar with polyptych of English production.

Highlights

• Venere di Venafro, a statue of the Antonine period
• Tavola Acquaria with Augustus's edict on the aqueduct
• Samnite grave goods from the Pozzilli necropolis, with a reconstructed tomb
• Early medieval materials from San Vincenzo al Volturno and the “scacchi di Venafro”
• Cloister of the former Santa Chiara convent

Permanent exhibition

• Percorso archeologico dalla preistoria al Medioevo – Samnite, Roman and medieval sections with the Venere di Venafro, the Tavola Acquaria, the head of a Gorgon and materials from San Vincenzo al Volturno.

Founded

1931

Operated by

Direzione regionale Musei nazionali Molise (Ministero della Cultura)

Visitors per year

approx. 2,508

Admission & discounts

Tickets can be bought at the ticket office or online via the Musei Italiani portal (museiitaliani.it).

Accessibility

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Amenities & dining

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