Museo archeologico nazionale “Domenico Ridola”

About the museum

The Regio Museo Domenico Ridola was established on 9 February 1911 by an act of Parliament, which approved the free transfer to the State of the archaeological collection of the physician, archaeologist and senator Domenico Ridola. The collection was first housed in four rooms of the Regio Liceo Classico “E. Duni” and was then moved to the former convent of Santa Chiara, granted in perpetuity to the State by the municipality of Matera.

Since 2019 the museum has been united with the Museo nazionale d’Arte Medievale e Moderna della Basilicata of Palazzo Lanfranchi within the Musei nazionali di Matera, an institution with special autonomy, to which the complex of the former Ospedale di San Rocco and the Chiesa del Cristo Flagellato was added in 2022.

The route is arranged on two floors: on the ground floor the rooms on the Palaeolithic, the Neolithic and prehistory, with stone tools attributed to Homo heidelbergensis, Neolithic pottery and figurines, and the section on the Balena Giuliana (the Giuliana whale); on the first floor the Indigenous and Greek periods, the rooms “Tiresia, il mito tra le tue mani”, designed also for visitors with visual and hearing impairments, and the Rizzon Collection of Italiote figured vases. Since 7 April 2025 the museum has been closed for energy-efficiency works and a new display funded by the PNRR (Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan).

Highlights

• Prehistory and protohistory of the Matera area, with the Neolithic sites discovered by Ridola
• Balena Giuliana, display “Giuliana degli abissi”
• Rizzon Collection of Italiote figured vases
• Multisensory rooms “Tiresia, il mito tra le tue mani”
• Ethnographic collection of bread stamps and wooden carvings

Founded

1911

Operated by

Musei nazionali di Matera (Ministero della Cultura)

Visitors per year

approx. 50,342

Admission & discounts

Free admission: First Sunday of the month (Domenica al museo): free admission at the open venues.

The €5 fee for the Ridola venue is the one listed on the website; educational visits by schools and universities are always free, with a list on headed paper.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials
• Audio description: no information

The website indicates lifts and ramps in both main venues and the possibility of borrowing a wheelchair. For the “Museo per tutti” project there are guides in Easy to Read and with augmentative and alternative communication symbols; the Tiresia route is designed for visitors with visual and hearing impairments. Only guide dogs are admitted in the museums; small dogs may be carried in arms.

Kids & families

• Baby changing facilities

The museum declares itself breastfeeding-friendly and offers a UNICEF Baby Pit Stop.

Getting there & parking

From Bari Palese airport (about 30 minutes by car) the Pugliairbus service runs. By car: A3 Salerno–Reggio Calabria motorway, exit for Potenza, then the SS 407 Basentana and the SS 7 link road as far as Matera.

Amenities & dining

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit