Museo Provinciale Sannitico

The Provincial Samnite Museum occupies the 18th-century Palazzo Mazzarotta in Campobasso's historic centre. Its collection spans the region's late prehistory to the Middle Ages, with Samnite sanctuaries and votive bronzes, Oscan inscriptions, Roman objects and an early medieval horseman's burial reconstructed with silver trappings.

Why it matters

Founded in 1881 alongside the Provincial Library, the museum became a reference collection for the ancient Sannio. Its holdings were reduced by wartime losses and repeated relocations. The museum reopened in Palazzo Mazzarotta in 1995 and is now presented by the Ministry of Culture as the National Archaeological Museum of Campobasso.

What to notice

The chronological displays begin with Bronze and Early Iron Age weapons and amber jewellery. The Samnite material includes votive statuettes of Hercules, architectural terracottas from sanctuaries, bronze tablets and inscriptions in Oscan. Finds from Sepino illustrate Romanisation, while the early medieval rooms include tombs of Bulgar horsemen from the Bojano plain, including a reconstructed warrior-and-horse burial with silver harness fittings. Late-medieval ceramics complete the sequence.

Context and history

The provincial council approved the museum in September 1881. The collection grew through donations and archaeological finds; Antonio Sogliano's 1889 inventory catalogued 1,886 objects. After relocations and wartime losses, restoration work began in the 1970s. The museum reopened in Palazzo Mazzarotta on 27 January 1995.