MArTA - Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Taranto

Founded in 1887, MArTA is Taranto's national archaeological museum, housed in part of an eighteenth-century convent. Its collections trace life in the city and its territory from prehistory through the Middle Ages, with celebrated finds from ancient Taras including the Ori di Taranto goldwork and the Tomba dell'Atleta.

Why it matters

Taranto was a major Greek city in southern Italy, and the museum brings together material from the long history of the city and its surroundings. Its galleries span the Palaeolithic, the Greek and Roman periods, late antiquity and the medieval age. The Ori di Taranto, a group of finely worked gold objects, is among the museum's best-known collections. Other notable works include the fifth-century BC Tomba dell'Atleta, the bronze Zeus of Ugento and the Palaeolithic figurines known as the Veneri di Parabita.

What to notice

The collection places objects from daily life alongside funerary and monumental works. The goldwork includes crowns as well as small personal objects such as mirrors, cosmetic containers and hair ornaments. Together, these finds give a sense of the varied craft traditions and social worlds represented in ancient Taranto. Prehistoric material from the region and objects from the Greek, Roman and medieval periods extend that story beyond the city's celebrated Hellenistic age.

Context and history

The museum was established in 1887 and occupies a former convent of the Alcantarine friars, built in the eighteenth century beside the church of San Pasquale Baylon. The convent was later adapted for other civic uses before becoming the home of the national archaeological museum. Its setting links a collection rooted in the ancient history of Taranto with a later chapter of the city's religious and architectural history.