Museo Archeologico Nazionale Gaio Cilnio Mecenate

The National Archaeological Museum Gaio Cilnio Mecenate occupies a former medieval Olivetan monastery built over the remains of Arezzo’s Roman amphitheatre. Its collections trace the city’s history from Etruscan Arretium through late antiquity, with a celebrated collection of coral-red Arretine tableware.

Why it matters

The museum combines the archaeology of ancient Arezzo with a building shaped by its earlier use. The monastery’s curved plan follows the amphitheatre beneath it, once the largest public building in ancient Arretium. The museum was established in 1936 and became state-run in 1973; it takes its name from Gaius Cilnius Maecenas, the Augustan patron associated with Arezzo. Its collection grew from the Fraternita dei Laici’s public museum of natural history and antiquities, founded in 1823.

What to notice

The 26 rooms span two floors. The ground-floor displays follow Arezzo from its Etruscan origins to late antiquity; upstairs are prehistoric material, thematic collections and objects assembled by local collectors, including the Bacci family and archaeologist Gian Francesco Gamurrini. Among the Etruscan finds are gold objects from the Poggio del Sole necropolis, painted temple terracottas and material from the sanctuary of Castelsecco. The Bacci collection includes an Attic krater by Euphronios depicting Heracles’ fight with the Amazons.

The Roman galleries include Arretina vasa, or terra sigillata, tableware produced in Arezzo from around the mid-first century BC to the mid-first century AD. Their coral-red color helped make the city famous across the Roman Empire and beyond. Another notable object is a male portrait medallion in chrysography, made with gold and silver foil enclosed between glass sheets and dating to the second half of the third century AD.

Context and history

The amphitheatre dates to the first half of the second century AD. The monastery was built on its remains in the fourteenth century, and the ancient structure’s curve shaped the building above it. A virtual section presents the story and mythology of the Chimera of Arezzo.