Museo Civico Archeologico Pietro e Turiddo Lotti

Civic museum in Ischia di Castro with finds from the Palaeolithic to the Renaissance, including Etruscan sculptures in nenfro and material from the destroyed town of Castro.

Opening hoursFree admission

Directions

About the museum

The museum is organised on educational lines and follows a chronological route from prehistory to the Renaissance, presenting the history of the Ischia di Castro area and of the nearby town of Castro, destroyed in 1649. The rooms hold flint tools and Palaeolithic portable art from the Settecannelle cave.

Of particular note, given the uniqueness of the collection, are the Etruscan sculptures in pink nenfro (a volcanic tuff stone) depicting fantastic animals, from the necropolises of Castro, together with impasto and bucchero vessels from the Archaic to the Hellenistic period. Also on display are testimonies from the Roman period, Lombard grave goods with weapons and personal objects, sculptures once belonging to the cathedral of San Savino in Castro, and medieval frescoes from the rock-cut hermitage of Poggio Conte.

From the Piazza Maggiore of the destroyed town come capitals and mouldings from buildings designed by Antonio da Sangallo il Giovane, and pottery recovered from the waste dumps of the Palazzo Farnese.

Highlights

Etruscan sculptures in pink nenfro from Castro
Palaeolithic portable art from the Settecannelle cave
Medieval frescoes from the rock-cut hermitage of Poggio Conte
Lombard grave goods
Ceramics from the Palazzo Farnese in Castro

Operated by: Comune di Ischia di Castro