Museo archeologico nazionale dell'antica Capua

The National Archaeological Museum of Ancient Capua occupies a nineteenth-century cavalry barracks built around the medieval tower of Sant'Erasmo. Its collections bring together finds from the ancient city, from Samnite and Roman material to objects from sanctuaries and necropoleis.

Why it matters

Conceived as a museum of the territory, the institution connects artefacts from excavations across ancient Capua with the places where they were found. The museum building itself preserves earlier layers: the tower of Sant'Erasmo stands on remains associated with the Capitolium at the southern edge of the ancient forum. The collection also relates the city to the Via Appia, whose ancient Capua component entered the UNESCO World Heritage property in 2024.

What to notice

The courtyard, about 2,800 square metres, functions as an open-air lapidarium, with sarcophagi, architectural fragments and a large marine mosaic. Among the museum's notable works are a Roman resting Satyr, a statue of Triptolemus, the head of Septimius Severus and the winged Nike of Capua. The gold jewellery from Tomb 9 in the San Prisco necropolis provides a glimpse of elite burial culture in the fourth century BC. Tufo statues of the matres, or mother goddesses, came from the Fondo Patturelli sanctuary. Wall paintings from a Roman domus on Via De Gasperi include examples from the late second century AD.

Context and history

The tower of Sant'Erasmo was incorporated into the nineteenth-century cavalry barracks, which surrounded a large courtyard. The complex passed into state ownership in 1981. The museum opened in 1995 to display material recovered from decades of excavations around ancient Capua. In 2022, the exhibition “I Segni del Paesaggio: L'Appia e Capua” presented a selection of works relating the city to the Appian Way.