Museo archeologico nazionale di Venafro

Inside a seventeenth-century convent on Venafro's main street, the archaeological museum presents finds from the ancient Samnite and Roman town, including a marble Venus, a bronze aqueduct edict and medieval chess pieces.

Why it matters

Venafro sits near the borders of Molise, Lazio and Campania. The state installed its first finds in the former monastery of Santa Chiara on Corso Garibaldi in 1931; the displays extend across the convent's two floors. The collection documents Venafrum, which began as a Samnite settlement and developed into a prosperous Roman centre associated with olive-oil production. Finds include fountain statuary and administrative bronze.

What to notice

The Venere di Venafro, found in 1958 during building work on Via Colonia Giulia, is an Antonine statue of the second century AD and an emblem of the museum. A bronze tablet of an Augustan edict, issued between 17 and 11 BC, regulates the aqueduct that carried Volturno water to Venafrum, including construction methods, landowners' rights, water distribution and magistrates' duties. Finds from the Roman theatre include two large statues of toga-clad figures and architectural elements. The collection also includes chess pieces known as the scacchi di Venafro and material from the Benedictine complex of San Vincenzo al Volturno, including frescoes, glass and metalwork from the ninth to eleventh centuries.

Context and history

The museum's history reflects the region's twentieth century. Material from the Terme di S. Aniello site first went on show in 1931. During the Second World War the convent was requisitioned as a shelter for displaced people, and the collection was hidden. The Soprintendenza later arranged displays around the monastery's architecture. Its portico presents necropolis material recovered along the ancient city's main roads. Other finds include frescoes, mosaics, coloured marbles, lamps, coins, agricultural tools, inscriptions and jewellery.