Photo: Benjamin Smith · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Antiquarium di Torre Cimalonga

Archaeological antiquarium in the Aragonese tower of Scalea, with finds from the Palaeolithic to the Roman age and from the ancient city of Laos.

Opening hours unknownFree admission

Website Directions

About the museum

Torre Cimalonga is a cylindrical 15th-century tower in the Aragonese style, part of the defensive system of Scalea. It guarded one of the four entrances to the village, the “Quattro porte” (Four Gates), and protected the settlement from Saracen raids. It housed the garrison and two cannons and was later used as a district prison.

Since 1984 the tower has housed the Antiquarium, a small archaeological museum with finds linked to the territory and to the ancient city of Laos. The display cases are set into the old cannon openings and follow chronological order.

Among the materials on display are stone tools from Torre Talao, one of the main prehistoric sites of the southern Tyrrhenian, with Middle Palaeolithic industries; objects from a community settled on the Petrosa hill in the 7th–6th centuries BC; remains from the Foresta/Sant’Angelo area of the 4th century BC; and materials from Ponticello, probably of the Roman period.

Highlights

15th-century cylindrical tower in the Aragonese style
Display cases set into the cannon openings
Middle Palaeolithic stone tools from Torre Talao
Materials from the settlement on the Petrosa hill (7th–6th centuries BC)

Permanent exhibition

Collezione archeologica dell'Antiquarium – Finds from the Palaeolithic to the Roman age from the Scalea area and ancient Laos, in display cases arranged in chronological order.

Founded: 1984
Operated by: Soprintendenza Archeologia, belle arti e paesaggio per le province di Catanzaro, Cosenza e Crotone
Visitors per year: approx. 6,030