Museo Navale Romano

Albenga's Roman Naval Museum preserves finds from a merchant ship that sank off the coast around 100–90 BC with a large cargo of wine amphorae.

Why it matters

The discovery and recovery of the wreck helped establish underwater archaeology in Italy. Salvage began in 1950, and the resulting collection preserves material evidence of Roman maritime commerce in the western Mediterranean. The museum presents the amphora cargo in a reconstruction of its arrangement in the ship's hold.

What to notice

The amphorae are arranged on a wooden rack that evokes their stowage in the vessel. Smaller finds include game pieces, fishing tools, naval fittings and domestic pottery. The museum also preserves majolica vessels from Albenga's former hospital, material from a Roman wreck off Diano Marina and prehistoric finds from Val Pennavaira.

Context and history

The merchant vessel carried Campanian wine toward markets in southern Gaul and Hispania before it sank off Albenga. Recovery campaigns began in 1950 with the vessel Artiglio and continued through later excavations. Palazzo Peloso Cepolla, a seventeenth-century residence with a medieval tower, houses the museum and the research institute associated with Nino Lamboglia's archaeological work.