Museo della Navigazione nelle Acque Interne

Capodimonte's Museum of Inland Water Navigation explores how people travelled, fished and traded on lakes and rivers from prehistory to the twentieth century. Its collections grew around a Bronze Age dugout canoe recovered from Lake Bolsena.

Why it matters

In 1989, divers recovered a protohistoric dugout canoe from the lakebed near Bisentina Island. The museum opened in 2010 as a project of the regional archaeological superintendency and the municipal administration. Its collection traces the development of freshwater boat-building from the Bronze Age to the twentieth century, with vessels and material from Lake Bolsena, Lake Bracciano, Lake Fondi and Posta Fibreno.

What to notice

The single-log canoe from Lake Bolsena, dated between the fourteenth and eleventh centuries BC, anchors the collection. Other craft include the barchino of Lake Fondi, the barka of Bolsena, the naue of Posta Fibreno and the Sabatina 22 from Lake Bracciano. Material from the Etruscan-era roof-tile wreck at Punta Zingara adds evidence of lake trade. Dioramas, wooden boat models and multimedia displays explain hull forms, propulsion and fishing practices.

Context and history

Capodimonte's community has long depended on the lake for fishing, ferries and island transport. The museum combines the archaeology of navigation with the anthropology of fishing. The original displays were designed by Cooperativa Arx under Anna Maria and Enrico Conti, with scientific supervision by archaeologist Patrizia Petitti.